"The Answer Is You"
"As the Scriptures say, "A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one." Eph 5:31
Three years ago today, I became a wife again. My girls and I had been praying for this day to come. As Kevin put it this morning, it's been the best three years of his life. Which I couldn't agree more. You may be thinking, really? How could she say that and compare the past three years of marriage to her first marriage of fourteen years? Well, I was just asked this same question at my bible study a few weeks ago. Kevin and I attended a study by Emerson Eggerichs, "Love and Respect". The leader asked me if I ever compare Kevin to Mike. I do, sometimes. It's all in the difference of how we may solve conflict or raise children. Neither good or bad either way. Just different. I see myself as much more mature in life. More seasoned. Not taking life for granted. Enjoying the small things. It's a different life than I thought I would have, but it's a great life. It bothers me to talk about our life together to other widows, I have such empathy for the journey they are on. Such a lonely, hard journey. However, I remember finding great hope from other widows who had remarried. So, today...I pray for our story to touch those who need hope like I did and to take the next step.
A few weeks ago, I read a story about a widow remarrying and it really hit home with me. "I may be remarried, but I'm still a widow. One [marriage] does not cancel out the other. I can be both a wife to a man on this earth whom I love and the widow to a man I fulfilled my vows to - a man I will always love. I [have] loved and lost, grieved and grown, survived and thrived." To read the rest of the article, you can find it in the Huffington Post by Michelle Steinke.
Kevin and I decided that our wedding would be very small and intimate. We only had our immediate family with a few close friends there. Halfway through the ceremony, he surprised me with a song. A song that he had been preparing for me for our wedding. He wrote it while he had breaks at work and would jot down lyrics, practicing at night while playing his guitar. I have the torn up, chicken-scratch paper framed in our bedroom. He thought it was trash, I thought it was a treasure! He is very talented and what an amazing shock it was to me that he had written a song for our wedding. As he started to sing, I was thrilled. As the song continued, it was such a reflection of our short, yet wonderful life together. I share this song on my blog today, as many have asked to hear it through the past three years. It is a treasure to me...and so is he!
