A Life In Review

When you stand at the alter and you make your vows there is so much love and hope ahead of you. When you picture those words “in sickness and in health”, you picture brief illnesses and wonderful years of health and joy and memories made before you grow old together because on your wedding day you are in a bubble of joy. 

What happens though when those vows are put to the test. What happens when in sickness and health, becomes in sickness and in sickness and in sickness again. Can your marriage withstand that kind of unknown, that kind pressure? 

There are some scary statistics out there about marriages that are faced with long term illnesses. On the contrary it seems like a lot of people take the “in sickness” part of the vow as more of a suggestion than a true vow. 2 years into a deep sickness, here is what I know to be true though, every day we each have a choice, because ANY day one of us could become the one who is sick, I just happen to be in the hot seat right now. 

You have the choice to be another statistic, or the choice to fight for your marriage and the person you vowed to love. The choice to choose each other even when your vows are a lot heavier than they were on your wedding day. This might mean that some days your spouse is carrying 80% of the load and you only holding onto 20%, and other days, you’ve got 70% and they’ve got 30%. 

Marriage isn’t always 50/50 and we have to let go of the idea that it is. Be encouraged today if you are the one sick, because you have a heavenly Father who sent you a partner that made a vow to be with you, and when that partner fails sometimes (because they are human), the Lord will carry you both and give you rest. 

If you are the one that is carrying your partner who is walking through the sickness side of in sickness and health, hold fast. Be strengthened by the Lord and know that He is the one that will carry you through this. You chose this person with His guidance, and while you may not have known what that was going to look like, you are committed to your vows, and you are doing a great job. 

Marriage is never easy, and this holds especially true for those experiencing illness. I will forever be thankful that God chose a partner for me that stands firm in his vows even when they’re tested, and that we have a good and healing God. 

Choose to love each other through the “in sickness” days because it will make the “in health” days so much sweeter.