Weekend Wandering (26/5)
I consider marriage to be the highest form of grace encountered in human experience, of which I have tasted. I know that those called to singleness may say the same of their encounter with God through that calling, and I do not claim superiority over any other. However, my own marriage has been where I have seen both the best and worst of my humanity, the most profound example of sacrificial grace, and the clearest picture of the Church’s relationship to Christ.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the year I entered into covenantal commitment with the most astounding woman I have ever met, Kathryn. Not all those years have been easy, but all have been worthwhile. I assure you, 20 years is more a testimony to her patience than my worthiness, and beyond that, 20 years is a mercy from God that neither of us may yet fully comprehend.
As we stood facing each other, nervously reciting our vows, we were blind to all that would unfold over the following two decades. Yet knowing what I do now, I would not alter the commitment we made to each other on that misty morning on the 29th May, 1999. My wife has proven herself as good a companion, friend, helpmate, and mother to our children, as a man of my stature in life could have ever wished for, and even more. She has born with dignity not only her own griefs, but quite often mine. Her tears are willingly mingled with prayer as her own sorrows blend with the sorrows of others, then often, her own joys will accompany the joys of others with rich harmony that only springs from the deep places of human experience. She is the wife of my youth that I rejoice over to this day.
To honour her, this edition of ‘weekend wandering’ is a collection of some of the thoughts she has shared with me in private and then with others through her gift of writing.
