The Love That Holds Us

Posted on by

IMG_0730

I stepped to the balcony and
fastened my eyes on the rolling,
crashing waves at Gulf Shores,
in sweet home Alabama. Dave
and I were there to celebrate
49 years of marriage.

I couldn’t stop the tears. This place
held so many special memories.

We felt like teenagers as we dodged wave after wave of the beautiful shoreline.

It wasn’t long before we stepped in, wetting our feet with the invigorating tide of warm, salty foaming water. Ah, it felt so good!

www.g

Pretty soon we were gathering seashells, each one different in varying size, shape, and color.We would give these keepsakes
to the grand-children God has so richly blessed us with.

Not wanting to leave oceanside we sat on the sand, and reminesed

over the sweet memories of years gone by. Grateful for the mercy that
held on to us when the ebb and flo of life’s challenges threatened our hold on each other… and Him.

We watched the waves rushing towards us, reminding us of God’s never-ending un-changing grace….And the love that just keeps coming, coming towards us, through all the changing seasons of our lives.

He is the third cord stand of love that holds us together.

Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. Ecclesiastes 4:12 NIV

30 thoughts on “The Love That Holds Us”

  2. To me, these old hymns are special events in themselves, Glenda. Every time I hear songs like this, I have flashbacks of sitting beside my dad in our open air church on the mission field, pressed up against his hairy Popeye forearms, his airplane mechanic hands scrubbed clean as he holds the open hymnal for me to sing along with him. He never has to look at the words, but he makes sure I take them in.

    God has sometimes been the ONLY cord that kept me alive, but my father did everything he knew how to make certain that I was tied on tightly.

    So happy for you and your anniversary – my heart is smiling as I read this post.

    Thank you for sharing,
    Becky

    Like

    Reply ↓

    • Becky,
      Thank you for sharing those sweet memories of your dad in the midst of the great hymns you sang together. What a precious thought of your dad holding on tight to you. surely He reflected the Cords of love sent by our Heavenly Father.
      Hugs!

      Like

      Reply ↓

  6. Thank you for sharing your anniversary blessing with us – true inspiration. One of my favorite God-songs! Jeff and I have a special day coming up in May – hope we have as sweet a celebration as you and Dave!

    Like

    Reply ↓

  11. Congrats! I’m really happy for you. I’ve been married for 8 1/2 years only (so far, it’s been mostly good with some ugly storms here and there), so 49 seems a big big number!
    The third strand is so true… I’m convinced it’s THE secret to not merely surviving, but thriving in marriage. I’ve seen the Lord literally dissolve my anger and bitterness in hours (days or weeks in some serious cases), and the same has happened to my husband. We don’t forgive 70 times 7 simply because it’s a commandment, but because we’ve been forgiven by God and we know the offended party has also offended many many times. At times I do not feel very loving and yet the Lord tells me to act loving and while I obey He restores the emotions and the romance. So we enjoy the security that somehow or other we’ll make it through the storms that may come because, come what may, we’re committed, to the Lord first, and then to each other. And because the Lord is faithful in keeping us in His ways (by gentle warnings and using the rod when He must!), we trust He’ll keep drawing us to each other. It may not be idyllic all the time, but it’s real, and true. And the test of faithfulness and loyalty is not to stick around when all is going well, but to stand by your partner in times of adversity, strong disagreements, and apparent hopelessness.
    Thanks to you Glenda and your dear husband for not throwing in the towel when it seemed night was at its darkest point. The world needs to hear that it’s possible to still enjoy, love and be happy with each other after half a century of companionship. Such examples are becoming rarer and rarer.

    Like

    Reply ↓

    • Carina,
      I so appreciate what you shared about marriage…especially standing by your partner in times of adversity, strong disagreements, and hopelessness. Jesus holds us together because we are first committed to Him and then to each other. The third cord strand that is not easily broken. He gives us grace to walk through the storms together and then what a blessing when we go to the other side of the storm…look back and rejoice over all He brought us through.
      Thanks for stopping by with such encouraging words…you brought tears to my eyes.
      Heart Hugs!

      Like

      Reply ↓

  12. Glenda, I so enjoyed your message. You and Dave continue to live a wonderful example for your children, grandchildren, family and friends of how you have allowed God to be the center of your marriage. In all that you do, you place Him first. We so enjoyed spending time with you and Dave and we love you both very much.
    Lynda

    Like

    Reply ↓

    • Thank you Lynda for your kind words. God has been very gracious to us all these years and He really is the One who has held us together. We love you and Freddie too and always enjoy being with you.
      Heart Hugs!

      Like

      Reply ↓

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.