“Since they are no longer two but one,
let no one split apart what God has joined together.”
Matthew 19:6
This is the verse written inside our wedding bands. Today on August 12, 2012 we have been married 12 years. Many trials have come during our 12 years together that would have threatened to split us apart. Remembering to give thanks and rejoice in the Lord always in all circumstances has carried us through to this day. There are so many things to be thankful for, but next to my Savior I am most thankful for my husband Eric and that he chose to share his life with me. I don’t take that for granted but also don’t tell him enough. I’m thankful for a husband that is deeply passionate about the cause of Christ, and whose primary ministry is following Christ unreservedly and wholeheartedly wherever He leads. This is what made me fall in love with Eric and what has grown my love for him. It has also drawn me closer to the heart of God in untold ways. I am in profound awe that God would pick me be the helpmate of a man whose great attention and love toward people of every tribe, nation, and tongue and his God given ability to reach them with the love of Christ surpasses anyone I have ever personally known. My husband isn’t perfect, but when I think about Eric, I think about Jesus. He is so much like Jesus…he knows how to love and love well. He loves me well when I am hardest to love. He loves me when I don’t love him back the way I should. He truly believes that this thing we are living in called marriage wasn’t designed only to fulfill our happily ever after but to make us holy…to make us more like Christ. And the only way to become more like Christ is to fellowship in His sufferings. I am so incredibly thankful that I am not fellowshipping alone. I am thankful that we are one. We are a team that is on the same page. The foundation for every decision we make together is who Jesus is, what He has faithfully done, and what He has promised to do. When the rains come hard and knock us down we know that our Foundation will stand and we will hold on to Him. We know that our marriage is temporal. It is for however many years our Lord has granted us together on this earth. But we want the choices we make together on this earth to have eternal value. We believe this is the reason God has brought us together. This is also the reason that the evil in this present world is a threat to marriage. But a bond of three is not easily broken. How thankful I am that we share the same Christ with the same heart. How thankful I am that the children God has given us to raise together have a father that models our Heavenly Father’s example. We will continue to brave the world together in His strength until He calls us home, or until “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.” –Revelation 11:15
Twelve years ago today I married my best friend and I am so thankful for that day and every day I get to spend with him serving our Savior.
That is such a beautiful tribute to Eric and to the Lord. God bless you, Elizabeth. Eric is a fortunate man to have such a committed bride.
What a beautiful picture of a marriage blessed by God! yall are truely amazing. Your heart and devotion to each other and to the Father is a rare and precious treasure. Thank you for sharing your heart!
Love every word. Its genuine and honest and gives us a great example to remember. Eric has been one of the men in my life that i wonder if I didnt have his example how I would have turned out. And you my sister Elisabeth Charis, it is so clear why God picked you to be with Eric. God has given you strength, grace, love and His wisdom to live passionately in ministry all while working hard. Its not perfection, its direction and what a wonderful assurance to see and know yall have always been and are and will continue heading towards Christ! Love you!