21—The Threefold 7

Margaret and I at Michaela's Bat Mitzvah, December 18, 2011.

Happy Anniversary Margaret!

I Love You!

It's hard to believe that this past Saturday was our 21st wedding anniversary. Before we were married, Margaret and I had been dating for four years; starting in the tenth grade. We were barely twenty years old when we were married. Soon after our wedding, I remember someone telling me that if we could make it past the first seven years, our marriage would have a chance. Margaret and I agree that the first seven years were the hardest. We find it curious that for the first seven years we didn't have children. We didn't plan it like this, it just happened this way. In fact, our first child was born fifteen days after our seventh anniversary. Looking back, it seems that this new life was an indication of the new life that we would soon experience in our marriage. Two years later, Margaret gave birth to our second child and this same year Margaret and I committed our lives to Yeshua. We were born again and given a new life, eternal life. Since then our marriage has become stronger and stronger.

We believe that marriage is forever and I'm sure most people do; otherwise why would traditional wedding vows include the phrase 'til death do us part?' I'm not saying that divorce doesn't happen. My point is that nobody gets married thinking they are going to divorce. If that's the case then why get married in the first place? Why go through all the trouble? Marriage is a lifetime commitment. It is a total commitment but not a perfect commitment. We give our whole life to our spouse not just part of it. But since we are human and we err, our commitment will not be a perfect one. Marriage is not something that we accomplish but something we work at. Our marriages need constant care and attention. They need to be nurtured and not neglected. We need to remember that there is no such thing as a perfect marriage because there are no perfect people.

At Front Range, we believe we are called to a multigenerational faith. This means that it is our responsibility to pass our faith on to the next generation. We are commanded to pass, to our children, the ways of God; and a strong marriage is necessary in accomplishing this task. A healthy marriage is a visual image, or representation, of the relationship that our God has with us. A dysfunctional marriage diminishes this image of God. This is why, at Front Range, it is our desire to help strengthen the marriages in our community. After Shabbat Service, on the first and third Saturdays, we hold a men's time. This is a time of strengthening and encouraging the men in the community to step up and be the men that God has called them to be -- the spiritual leaders in their homes. And then after service on the second and fourth Saturdays, we hold a women's time. This is a time of equipping and encouraging the women of the community -- young and old, single and married. Strong marriages will make healthy families and a healthy family is the proper environment to raise and disciple our children.

I thank God daily for the gift of my beautiful wife. I pray that He will continue to conform me into the man that I need to be, to lead and protect her.

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