When she was younger, there was a woman in her church who always intrigued her. Grace was beautiful with a head full of silky springs of curls. Every Sunday, she'd leave her seat and walk up to the altar for prayer.
Every Sunday.
Rebecca wondered what on earth could be troubling her so that she sought prayer every week. So, one day, she asked Grace what was she praying for.
Grace said years ago, her husband, a deacon in the church, left her for another woman. He moved out of their home to a new town with this new romance. Since the day he left, Grace had prayed and prayed for God to bring her husband back to her.
Some time later, her husband had a stroke that left him unable to care for himself. Grace went to the town he was living in and brought him back to her home so she could care for him.
Her husband indeed did come back to her.
Grace probably never thought her husband would break their vows and leave her. But I'm sure he never thought that the woman he cheated on would be the one who so willingly would take care of him in such a state.
A story like this makes me fervently pray for wisdom when it comes to a mate. A man who has integrity and an ear tuned into the Father but one who is also committed in every sense of the word.
It's sort of scary. How do you know that the person you've married will truly stick with you when it gets tough?
This past week, I read an article about a woman who suffered brain damage during the birth of her triplets. Her husband, left to care for the triplets virtually on his own, divorced her two years later, telling her parents that he was ready to "move on." Her parents are currently caring for her and fighting her husband for visitation rights. While reading this, I thought, "Did she ever think that he would do something like this?"
It's easy to stay dedicated and true when times are good.
When paychecks are plentiful.
When children are innocent.
When looks are unblemished, bones are strong, and the twister ripping apart the neighbor's house looks like it going to miss yours. But it almost never works like that.
I definitely pray for wisdom when it comes to heart matters.
Someone who will dance with me in life's sunshine and get drenched with me in life's rain.
Someone who won't run when it's hard but stay and fight with me.