Deb and I are celebrating 10 years of marriage today. We looked at the pictures of our wedding and rejoiced in that event all over again. We loved seeing our friends and family gathered to celebrate our commitment to each other.
Anniversaries of special events are important times. They are markers that remind us of the giftedness of life. Life, filled with moments like rain drops swallowed and merged into a raging river, often races by. We speed past the people and the events that contribute to who we are and who we are becoming. Routine creates a level of comfort and the clock ticks it's time and the next thing you know, 10 years has gone by. Markers, special celebrations, slow us down to notice.
When we looked at the pictures of ourselves at the wedding, we wondered, "Who are those people?" Neither of us could quite remember who we were 10 years ago. We have shared loss and love, joy and pain. We have worked out the way to enrich each other's life, offering who we have been and who we are becoming. The struggles to make sense of our lives, the bringing together the distinct resources that each has been given and committing them to creating our life of love and blessing, have created new creatures.
On those special days when we mark our memory, when we look back at who we were and quietly assess who we are now, we are humbled by the sheer mystery of life's journey. We rejoice in the miles we have traveled, the tears we have shed, the laughter we have enjoyed. We have held each other in our pain and our love, wrestled with differences till we discovered the blessing in them, and helped each grow into the people we are today.
Mark the special events of your life. In so doing you will discover the moments on which your life is built.