One decade of growth

It is exactly ten years ago today that Natie and I made a covenant before God. Covenant sounds like such a religious word, doesn't it? Well then, agreement, contract, convention, treaty, promise, pledge if you will. Our vows were just the standard version that are traditionally used in wedding ceremonies - the promises made still powerful and equally important.

My, how I have grown in the past ten years! I was a selfish little girl, much of my growing up happened as Mevrou Ferreira. And then there are the three human beings born out of this relationship. Whole new people who wouldn't have existed otherwise. Or would they? Whichever the case may be, I am really glad they are in my life! Our life!

So now, we are spending time teaching these little ones that God is the giver of life. That Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. We are instilling into them the knowledge that they are saved by His Grace, and that His Grace is always available to them. That they should never shun that gift. When my son doesn't feel like loving his sister, he should remember that Jesus took everything on Himself, every sin, every lie, every hurt, everything, and that He did it also for our sins. Past, present and future. That we are forgiven immediately and entirely, how can we not forgive others? How can we say No thanks! to that? Choosing God's Grace means choosing to love your sister too. And choosing once is not enough. It is a daily task. I choose to have a good day today. I choose to love the people around me. I choose. That doesn't mean that we never do wrong, we make stupid choices all the time. Sometimes we just take the easy route. And mostly the easy route is not the best one. But that's OK too, because God has already forgiven us for that choice, we just need to realise it was a wrong one and regret taking it.

OK, how did the anniversary blog get to be more about making choices? The fact is, love is a choice. An act of your will. It is SO not a feeling! And marriage requires choosing every day to love your spouse. Thankfully, in my situation, it has mostly been an easy (and even automatic) decision to make in the past ten years. May it be even more so in the lifetime to come.

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