25 Years
On the day this post is being released, Leah and I are celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary. Fittingly, we are going to wait until tomorrow to do anything to celebrate, because we are helping Central finish out this year’s VBS tonight.
I say that’s “fitting” because, I pray, that’s the way people think of us: together and serving the Lord. We are nowhere near perfect, but we see our marriage as a reflection of God’s glory in the world, and we pray that all we do through our marriage honors Him.
But, today, I want to share some thoughts about the godly woman whom the Lord has let me be married to for a quarter-century.
Leah is a precious gift from God. I have failed her more times than I care to count, but she has always forgiven, helped, and been strong. While I have tried to be who she needs to be, there is no way I have led her the way I should have. She is a beautiful lady, and I am so grateful that I do not have to stretch in the least to use the word “lady.” Her beauty is inward and outward. She radiates grace, and has shown that grace to me countless times.
(And she’s really, really, really gorgeous!!!)
There is no one who loves the Lord and wants others to love Him more than she does. Her desire to help (especially) children learn Scripture is remarkable. Her willingness to sacrifice so that I can be a minister and so that Mary Carol and Turner can have a homemaking and homeschooling mom is amazing.
Today, though, I reflect back on 25 years. I suppose it is common for couples to say that they have been through ups and downs. We certainly have in those two-and-a-half decades. While the Lord has blessed us over and over again, we have had our fair share of valleys to go with the mountaintops. We have had those days when we didn’t particularly like each other for a little while. We’ve been angry and sad and confused and frustrated.
And, like the silver that a 25th anniversary uses as its representation, we have some scrapes and cuts, but are stronger because we have faced those things together and walked with the Lord through them all. When I think back through all the twists and turns of the last quarter-century, I see God’s hand on our marriage, and Leah’s spiritual strength is a major reason for that.
I could write for hours about how special she is, but I hope she knows that she has a husband who simply adores her and is amazed by her. To walk with me through moves, an adoption, a surprise birth, family sicknesses and deaths, financial wins and losses, and the wild swings of ministry life is a testament to a wife who carries herself with class and with the radiance of Christ. She is a shining light in a dark world.
Leah, I don’t say it enough, but thank you. 25 years ago, you honored me by saying the simple words, “I do,” and by taking the action of putting my name as your name. If I have ever taken that for granted, I’m sorry, because, 25 years later, I know you still “do,” and I am still honored because you’ve never for one moment caused me to wonder if you “do.” Despite ups and downs and in spite of my many flaws and faults, your love and devotion are unquestionably strong, and I am grateful beyond words.
Beautiful, you’re the best, and I love you.
“The best is yet to be…”
AUTHOR: Adam Faughn
