Love and Marriage

Yesterday, we had a party in our home. Friends and family gathered together to celebrate the 55th wedding anniversary of Memaw & Popop!(my in-laws). What an awesome reason to have a party. They brought their wedding album, and shared stories of their wedding.Popop loves to tell the story of how they met, and why they got married.(I believe he embellishes these!)
I was truly blessed with some of the best in-laws a girl could ask for. They have been an example to me of what a Godly marriage looks like. During the age of "drive through divorces", theirs is a testimony to all, that marriage does and can work.
To know Memaw and Popop, you see the love and respect they have for one another. You see the friendship that has sustained them throughout the years. You see that they continue to have a strong commitment for their marriage and family. But above all their commitment to God is always first.
To them the last 55 years has flown by,they have experienced all gamuts of life together. Memaw has probably heard Popop's stories a 1000 times(we all have), but she graciously still laughs when he tells them.She still cuts his hair(for the past 30 years)! They have watched their children grow and become parents themselves. They are a constant in their grandchildren's lives. How awesome it must be when they sit and talk together about their past, and the memories that they created, together, side by side.
I am sure that they have had their share of hard times,challenges, but they persevered through them and never lost their focus that marriage is much more than a commitment to each other, but a covenant with God.
I have been blessed to be a part of their marriage, to learn from them. Their marriage gives hope, encouragement, and faith. Hope that there is such a thing as happily ever after, encouragement that we do have strength to endure this long road of commitment(yes, even in happy marriages we need encouragement),and faith that marriage does last forever.
Memaw and Popop I love you with all my heart. It is an honor to be your daughter-in-law. Thank you for your marriage, thank you for your faith in God, and thank you for loving me.