Happy Anniversary: Evidences of Grace, Spencer and Amy

Happy anniversary, Mom and Dad! I am so thankful to God for you, every day. I don't know where I would be without you.  I'm glad I don't ever need to know, because God has blessed my life so much through always having you around. Thank you for showing me Jesus every day.

5. Anniversary. This anniversary represents more than just a good memory of the day my mom and dad expressed once and for all their commitment to each other. It represents 19 years of life as one person, serving God and loving God more deeply with each year through their unity in Him.

4. Wife and mother. “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord, For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, His body, and is Himself its Savior.”

We live in a world that thinks being a wife and mom is a waste of time. But we follow a God who says that being a wife and mom can represent the very glory of His Son and His bride to everyone around us. I have a mom who truly believes that, and who does an excellent job of portraying God's glory. She is quick to give up her own wishes in order to submit to my dad or serve her kids. I don't even want to talk about trying to follow her example—I have so far to go before I am ready for that. Nonetheless, I praise God for giving me her to show what marriage and family can be for His glory.

3. Husband and father. “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her, that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with His word.”
“Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”

I do not deserve the dad I have. I don't think I know anyone else in the world who is as committed to God's word as he is. His faithful teaching of the Bible to me has instilled the fear of the Lord in me from the earliest age. Besides this, he is a great example of a man biblically leading his wife according to God's will. Think there's another guy as good as him somewhere in the world? I sure hope so!

2. Sacrifice. I can't count the times when either of my parents has sacrificed something important to them. They give up their desires for the sake of their ministries, their kids, and each other. For example, even though they love to have us kids at home with them, they let us pursue other things that are important to us, even at the expense of what could have been family time. They've taught me from the beginning that true love (for anyone) means sacrifice, and I am often amazed by how quick they are to sacrifice their personal desires for the sake of loving one another, and me.

1. Love for each other. The world says that two people should fall in love and stay in love because they are attracted to each other and make each other happy. I am so thankful that God has put me in a family that is such a stark contrast to worldliness. There is no question that my mom and dad are totally happy with each other, but there is so much more to their marriage than a selfish world thinks there should be. Their love is deeper than that, because it stems from them loving Jesus first and foremost. Besides this, they are willing to forgive each other when they fail—meaning that when one doesn't make the other happy, the relationship can still thrive. My mom and dad love each other, not the way the world loves, but the way that Jesus and the church love each other.