Vol. 18 No. 25 | June 27, 2016
We celebrated the actually 40-year anniversary of our marriage back in January, but last week we really celebrated.
Kim had visited the Pacific coast two years prior to our marriage (42 years ago) and called me while she was there and said, “I really wish you could see this.” Last week I saw it. We saw it together.
Our plane landed in San Francisco, we got our rental car, plugged in our phone with the GPS address of our Monterey hotel and headed toward the Pacific and Highway 1. I had been told of the beauty. I had been told of the splendor. I had been told of the spectacular views of rocky bluffs and sand beaches. I had been told of the thunder of waves as they crash onto those beaches and into and over those rock. I had been told, but what I had been did not come close to what describing what I saw.
I was overwhelmed. I was often speechless. I was thrilled to finally to be witnessing this part of God’s creation. I was often spellbound with wonder at my smallness in the midst of God’s majesty.
We had staged this as a once-in-a-lifetime trip. We would see the coastline, I would walk the fairways and play the amazing Pebble Beach Golf Links, we would eat amazing food, and we would reflect on our forty years of marriage. We did all that. We did more than that.
We shared memories of how God has walked with us every step of the way.
We marveled at the miracles of our two children, our daughter-in-law, son-in-law, and three beautiful grand daughters.
We spoke of how blessed we have been.
We spoke of how glad we are for the surgeon and medical teams that worked so hard to make sure Kim had eyes that could see actually the things we saw.
We reminded each other of how God had led us into and out of some very dark and difficult days to teach us to trust Him instead of our own strengths and resources.
As we watched the turbulent crashing waves and peaceful tide pools of the coastline we often sat quietly pondering how God who will lead through peaceful days ahead and through days filled with troubling waters that will again remind us of our helplessness and need to constantly trust the only One who can deliver us.
We did all those things, and more.
As I slowly and somewhat reluctantly move on to what comes next, I have discovered these reflections have washed up on the shores of my mind like the white foam from the waves of the blue Pacific.
First, dreams sometimes take a long time to be come true. We probably could have made the trip to the West Coast many years ago, before children, before the expense of travel, food, and lodging reached the level they have. We could have made the trip with our children, or with friends. We could have, but we did not. We waited. We prayed for the right time. We waited for the right time. With God’s help we came up with a plan. And with His blessings and guidance we saw that plan and those dreams come to pass. It took a while. And it was worth it.
Allow me to suggest that you dream your dreams, but do not rush them. Let God lead you to and through your dreams. He knows when and what and how and where and why much better than we. “God made everything beautiful in itself and in its time—but he’s left us in the dark, so we can never know what God is up to, whether he’s coming or going.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11, The Message)
Second, God’s reality is almost always better than our ideas and plans. We saw things last week that I had only imagined. Bundled up to stay warm in late June as we watched the sunset on the Monterey Peninsula was well above and beyond any of my wildest imaginations. Although I never really thought we would NOT make to our 40th year of marriage, I do not think I ever really thought about what actually making it to our 40th year of marriage would be like. I am sure it exceeds any and all of my wildest imaginations that I could have imagined.
Never stop letting God amaze you. His plans for you are bigger. His ideas for and of you are greater. His dreams for you greater than anything you can ask or imagine. “Who in the world do you think you are to second-guess God? Do you for one moment suppose any of us knows enough to call God into question? Clay doesn’t talk back to the fingers that mold it, saying, But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? ‘Shall what is formed say to him who formed it,’ ‘Why did you make me like this?’ ” 21 Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?” (Romans 9:20-21, NIV)
Third, live every day to the fullest and be grateful for each moment. We are not promised 40 years of marriage. We are not promised 40 years of life. We are not promised tomorrow. We have this moment. Live it. Enjoy it. Share it. Celebrate it. Delight in it.
Thank you Kim for following me and walking with me these forty years.
Thank You, God for giving us forty years of marriage.
Tom
A Norvell Note © Copyright 2016. Tom Norvell All Rights Reserved.