Just another year

June 29, 2020


About the author: Maggie Clark is married to Brad and, together,  they have 4 little girls! They moved to Zionsville 2 years ago from a suburb of Chicago. They church shopped for a few months before attending ZPC and instantly fell in love with the church! They recently bought a house in Carmel after apartment living for 6 years and she daily finds herself overwhelmed with gratitude for the blessing of a house with a yard for her kids to play in.

Proverbs 3:3-10 says: “Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man. Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones. Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.”

Next week my husband and I will celebrate our 12 year wedding anniversary. Nothing too exciting about 12 years, most people celebrate 10, 15, 20 years, you know, the “bigger” ones. 12 seems to be “just another year." As I think about our 12 years together: the ups and downs, the joys, the sorrows, the mundane, the scary moments, our successes and failures, I’m reminded of the verses we chose for our wedding, Proverbs  3:3-10, I remember very clearly deciding I wanted that to be our bible passage and message at our wedding because this is how I wanted us to live life as a married couple–determined to make a difference for GOD’s Kingdom! Have we always succeeded at living out a life “acknowledging HIM in all our ways?" Have we always “feared the LORD” and do we always choose to “not be wise in our own eyes?" I wish I could say YES, ALWAYS, we are so good at all of those things. BUT we are not, we do our best, we try our hardest but we fail. Our own desires, our own longings and selfishness have crept in at times. I am grateful for GOD’s GRACE and HIS WORD, I am grateful for this passage and the words that ALWAYS speak to my heart and convict me and remind me what a faithful, loving, and caring GOD we serve. We serve a GOD that longs for us to trust HIM, we serve a GOD that longs for us to fear HIM and shun evil, we serve a GOD that longs for us to serve HIM because in our service and giving to HIM, we are blessed, abundantly! We serve a GOD who longs for us to be loving and faithful! We serve a GOD that speaks to us through HIS word, when we listen! We serve a GOD that longs for us to follow HIM so HE can make our paths straight! So as my husband and I celebrate “just another year” together I am encouraged and reminded of the day we said “I do” and the day that, together, we chose this verse to be our guide.

As you prepare for “just another day,”  or another week at work or at home or another week longing for something that’s missing, another day of uncertainty, another day following your own ideas and ignoring what God is saying to you, another day of pains or joys, another day of confusion or clarity, whatever your day is looking like, whatever your week or your month is looking like, ask GOD to help you live out this verse… “May love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge HIM, and HE WILL MAKE YOUR PATHS STRAIGHT!” Oh, how I love these promises and this reminder! I pray that GOD’s word will bring nothing but JOY to your heart today, no matter what kind of day or week or month or year you are having!

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