I need you
God does not let you graduate until you maximize the blessing, learn the lesson, and pass the test. My husband and I often say that we could not have reconnected any earlier than we did because we we're not ready. We had not learned all the lessons from past relationships. We had not mastered our singledom, nor had we learned from our brokenness. Isn't it funny how God can use our pain to bless us?
What do you mean? Well, most of us don't truly learn who God is until we need him. We don't know he's a healer, until we are sick. We don't know he's a deliverer, until we need deliverance. We don't know he's a savior, until we need saving. The same can be same about our mates. I'm not talking boyfriends or significant others. I'm talking about those who are in covenant relationships. We don't know how much we love and appreciate our mates until our marriages are tested. We don't know how much we can endure until we are forced to endure it.
One of the biggest lessons I learned was that marriage is about need. God said that it was not good for man to be alone so he sent him a helpmeet. Before I got married, I didn't need a man. I just wanted one. I didn't understand that I was a stubborn, fiercely independent woman, who was a Stone in name and theory. Yet by the grace of God, I recognize that I needed to be loved. I needed to be protected. Just like my husband needed me. He needed his rib. He needed a helpmeet. We need each other. Marriage is vulnerability by design.
Today, I celebrate my husband's life. I am so proud to be his wife. I do not take it lightly that God chose me to be his wife, the one with whom he will spend the rest of his life. I love you. I want you. I need you. Happy Birthday Babe.
Maximize
When I first heard the term "working poor," I thought it was some kind of sick joke. I could not fathom the idea that someone could work forty hours and still live below the poverty line. I did not think that homelessness just meant you didn't have an address. You could still have a job and sleep in your car. You could rent a room for a week and pay for storage. I was blissfully unaware. The wealth gap is expanding. The middle class is simply making ends meet. Some of us are one paycheck away from poverty. Our government is passing laws to ensure that the rich get richer and the poor stay impoverished.
“No person can maximize the American Dream on the minimum wage.”