Reflections On My First Year Of Marriage

 

Today marks our 1st wedding anniversary. 366 days amazing days! 366 not 365 because of the Leap Year, and as I reflect on those days two words come to mind.

Challenges

Challenges for sure…there is no way to battle cancer and for it not to impact one’s family. Challenges also came our way as we blended two households into one and I assumed my role as husband and stepfather.

Joy

Joy is our families embracing us as a couple and coming to see both families as one. Joy is God breathing life into my dream of being a parent, one that I had long ago given up on. Joy of not have to go through life on your own and having a partner to lean on when faced with challenges. Joy is having another set of eyes to view life through, to see what is not obvious from your point of view.

What’s amazing is I never set out to find Joy, yet, Joy found me!

So what is the formula to finding joy in the midst of life challenges?

So what’s my secret?

Trusting God period…is choosing Joy for our lives. This choice allows us to look past our circumstances and focus on the fact, a fact that has been present since the Garden of Eden, that God’s plan for our lives is far superior than our plan for our lives.

 

Truth be told, God’s plan may not be the plan you or I would have chosen for our lives, but this year has shown me that choosing to trust God in spite of the circumstances allowed me to lean on Him in a way I might not have if things were different. And in doing so I do believe the Joy I’m experiencing on this, the first anniversary of my wedding day is a result of that decision to trust God period. 

So on this day, March 19 2012, Shari thank you for saying “I Do” and the blessing it is to have you as my wife;  and thank you Michael and Matthew for saying “I Will” and for giving  me the opportunity to be involved in your lives as your Stepfather.

My hope and my prayer is that something in this post resonates with you and may even lead you to choose to trust God in your life, so you will experience the joy that flows from your decision. 

Start small. What is the one area in your life that comes to mind, right now, what do you need to let go of and trust God?

What’s holding you back? Just give it to God and see what happens!

Make sure to share what happens with someone else so the lesson you learned can be leveraged and glorify God!

~Tom

trusting God period!

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