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The Better Half
By Scott Harrup | May 30, 2008
I’m no calendar savant. Ask me what day of the week Feb. 17, 2076, will fall on, and I have a 1 in 7 chance of getting it right. Ask me how many days I have lived since Aug. 10, 1964, and I can only offer a lump sum of “about 20,000.” (Checking my calculator just now, I find it’s barely over 16,000. So much for lump sums.)
But, as best as I can tell, this weekend I will have been married half my life. Jodie and I married on July 5, 1986, a month and five days before my 22nd birthday. Two months and 10 days before my 44th birthday creates the milestone, although I’m fuzzy on how leap years impact my calculations.
There’s no question this has been the better half of my life. Not because my childhood was traumatic. And not because my married years have been ideal. But because marriage has allowed me to share life with someone I love deeply, someone who has made it possible for me to father three children I treasure, someone who not only tolerates my idiosyncrasies and failures but continues to love and affirm me in spite of them.
Whether you’re married or single, people are God’s greatest gifts to you. Think of the people who have made your life better. (Maybe you can think of some “gifts” you’d like to return, but even painful relationships have the capacity to shape your spirit in positive ways.) Is there someone you could contact today, just to let them know how much you value that relationship? Is there something you could do to make someone glad they know you?
Topics: Family Life |