Today would be my mom’s 114th birthday if she were still with us. It took me the first 60+ years of my life to finally let mom be human like the rest of mankind. She was the stable member of our family for all of us. She was the one we looked to for Godly wisdom. I still hang on to some of this wisdom. She also persevered even when there was no light at the end of the troubles. Mom had her struggles being the wife to my dad, but I never ever heard her make a contrary statement about him. I thank God for giving her to me and to all of us kids. 

The curriculum being used with the group of men I meet with on Saturday mornings is presently addressing our relationships. Its main focus is marriage relationships, but the applications are for all relationships if they are to be healthy ones as God defines healthy. One story being written for the participants was a troubled marriage due to the sexual abuse the wife had experienced in her growing up years. It deeply influenced her ability to be intimate with her husband. As we were addressing the questions being asked in the curriculum with one another yesterday morning, I told the group I felt like I was this wife in my own first marriage and even in mine with Kathy. The difference? I told Kathy my story knowing she’d leave this horrid man she married. What did she do? She stayed. She not only stayed but encouraged me all along to get help.

The relationship of Kathy and me has had its definite times of strife for we are made of flesh. However, with God as our first priority, this relationship has become the anchor I cherish. I keep my eyes on Jesus, but next in line is keeping my eyes on the gift God gave me so many years ago–my wife Kathy.