Last weekend we were graced with spending time at 2 weddings and hanging out with lots of young people! WOOHOO! You know who you are..the De-Icing Queen, commissioner of DC flag-football, and all the rest of these great young people pictured. Just being with these people breathes new life into my being. These young people get together everytime one of their own is getting married. It is a joyous time.
Young Love...
Fall beauty reigned, lovely brides and handsome grooms, amazing friends at both weddings blessed the young couples as they began a journey of hope and faith and love. Both couples were prayed over, food was eaten, toasts were made and songs were danced, sung and played. Together we celebrated the promise of young love...one week ago.
Old Love...
Today we spent time with our friends Ron and Shirley. Ron and Shirley have only been married about 10 years. They said goodbye to their first mates several years ago after loving them until death parted them. Then...God gave them each other for a new season of life. They have loved and worked well together in this second season. It has been fun visiting their orchards when the cherries and apples were hanging from the trees.
Now Shirley is in the final stages of ALS. She has been battling this horrible disease for 3 years. She will die soon. Today she could tap her head against a pad that would beep to let Ron know she wanted to communicate something. She communicates with eye contact. That and a little wag of her finger is the extent of her control over her body. Oxygen machines help her to breath. Ron wipes the tears that fill her eyes as we pray together.
Ron said their day is 24 hours long, because she needs care around the clock. He reads books to her, and they watch movies and tv programs together. Yesterday they took a little ride in their van to see the colors...and they love each other. They love each other so well!
This is what it comes down to. They have both been care-givers for their first spouses, and now they are living this journey together again. And they love each other so well! They are an inspiration to all lovers.
None of us knows what love will require of us. In that bedroom today God's grace was thick upon them. You don't love that well in your own strength. You pray for the grace and strength needed for each day.
When you see that lived out you get schooled in what true love looks like. Thank you Ron and Shirley. Young love is a beautiful, wonderful thing. It's the beginning steps on the journey, til death do us part.
Young Love...
Fall beauty reigned, lovely brides and handsome grooms, amazing friends at both weddings blessed the young couples as they began a journey of hope and faith and love. Both couples were prayed over, food was eaten, toasts were made and songs were danced, sung and played. Together we celebrated the promise of young love...one week ago.
Old Love...
Today we spent time with our friends Ron and Shirley. Ron and Shirley have only been married about 10 years. They said goodbye to their first mates several years ago after loving them until death parted them. Then...God gave them each other for a new season of life. They have loved and worked well together in this second season. It has been fun visiting their orchards when the cherries and apples were hanging from the trees.
Now Shirley is in the final stages of ALS. She has been battling this horrible disease for 3 years. She will die soon. Today she could tap her head against a pad that would beep to let Ron know she wanted to communicate something. She communicates with eye contact. That and a little wag of her finger is the extent of her control over her body. Oxygen machines help her to breath. Ron wipes the tears that fill her eyes as we pray together.
Ron said their day is 24 hours long, because she needs care around the clock. He reads books to her, and they watch movies and tv programs together. Yesterday they took a little ride in their van to see the colors...and they love each other. They love each other so well!
This is what it comes down to. They have both been care-givers for their first spouses, and now they are living this journey together again. And they love each other so well! They are an inspiration to all lovers.
None of us knows what love will require of us. In that bedroom today God's grace was thick upon them. You don't love that well in your own strength. You pray for the grace and strength needed for each day.
When you see that lived out you get schooled in what true love looks like. Thank you Ron and Shirley. Young love is a beautiful, wonderful thing. It's the beginning steps on the journey, til death do us part.
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