Hello all! This week I am guest posting with a story that is best told from the outside. It's Dena, Gary and Diane's oldest daughter and amateur blog coordinator.
Last week I headed for the airport to pick up my mom and dad from their flight. It is one of things I enjoy the most about watching their dog and car while they are gone - I get fresh off the plane stories of what joy they have experienced on their latest trip. So what usually happens is that they try and cram 7-10 days worth of miraculous works of God into a 45 minute drive and what actually happens is I get some story but mostly this grand sense of wonder from each of them. And this time I was not disappointed. What I didn't expect was this little nugget.
They were telling me about some of their trips into some of the more impoverished areas around Medellin that they hadn't seen in their previous visits. I'll let them tell the actual stories. But at one point, they were learning the hard facts about a woman's circumstance and my dad was explaining how difficult it was to hear. Then he got a choked up and said, "You should have just seen your mother." He was so full of pride he was almost bursting. "She told them that we were just going to pray right then." I've seen my mom do that. It's the mom in her. I know what he saw. He saw fierce love in my mom and it made him feel like the luckiest man. And I saw it in his eyes.
I have always known my dad loved my mom deeply. He's sentimental and sweet to her but they can bicker like no one I know - 'cept maybe me :) And they have their troubles communicating their best intentions and love to each other even though it is in there. I only say that because what I saw in that moment was my dad acknowledging that my mom is PIVOTAL to the ministry they are doing because of her deep compassion for people. And I know I saw his love grow with that exchange. I don't know if she knows or if she saw. But I am telling the world, God is growing my parents together in ways that I am certain blow them away. They are learning to love each other in serving Him in the places of risk and uncertainty that He is taking them. Serving is a blessing that we often rob ourselves of because of the discomfort. That is not the headline for Gary and Diane. The headline is 48 years of marriage and God is still helping them to learn to love each other better.
Don't be afraid to go where God leads. There is no greater place of joy or peace or wonder than stepping into the flood of grace. And if you are holding the hand of your oldest and dearest friend, confidante and lover, there is NOTHING He cannot accomplish in and through you.
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