The Long View

When Robin and I have the opportunity to tell the story of how we met and married we always include the part about meeting with a counselor. Our courtship was a whirlwind and so we thought it wise to meet with an outsider to make sure we weren't being carried away with our emotions. We met with a counselor two or three times, and on one of those meetings he gave us feedback based on a pre-marriage assessment we had taken.

The report based on the assessment was overwhelming positive for our long-term success as a married couple, with one exception. The assessment suggested that we might have trouble in our marriage over the raising of children. The markers in the assessment suggested that raising children together was something Robin and I would have to be very deliberate and intentional about, lest our marriage crash on the rocks as a result.

We laughed! Between us we had four adult children at the time, all of whom were living on their own and likely never to return to the nest. As you likely know, the "joke" was on us. The Lord had plans that were quite different. About one-and-one-half years after the wedding we took one granddaughter in for the long haul, completing her adoption a year later. And then almost three years ago we took two brothers in here on the reservation for foster care. For the last three years we have raised the three children as siblings, and we don't foresee the boys going anywhere else in the near future. And as for the pre-marriage assessment's prediction? Parenting together has been a joy. Robin and I both agree on that.

The kids are a delight. Every day they each do things that make us smile and laugh. We marvel at the richness they add to our life together.

They are sweet kids but they are also children in every sense that word carries. They do things well. They struggle. They learn quickly and easily. They learn with great reluctance, at times even resistance. They play well together, and they tease and fight. They obey Momma and Papa, and they disobey Momma and Papa. Two steps forward. One, maybe two or three steps back.

Those moments and days with the backwards steps are the times we need to remember all the things these kids have already been through. To remember all of the progress that they have already made. Those are the times we have to keep the long view in mind. The particular moment might be hard, and the future may be uncertain, but we can look back and see the great distance we have already traveled. For Robin and I that helps us press on together through the present moment.

But we don't press on alone. We go forward with the Lord Jesus. Always. Another part of our courtship story is that we prayed together on our first date. And we have done so nearly every day since.

We are two people, joined together in the Lord, and traveling together for as long as He wills, serving in the things that He would reveal to us, until that day when He calls us to be home, with Him. Part of being a Christian is living with the long view of life. In the present moment the Lord is leading you, perhaps through great challenge, to a place of great glory. Amen.