Leaving a Legacy of Love
Today’s Truth
"Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails" (1 Corinthians 13:7, 8 NIV)
Friend to Friend
For those who have read Becoming the Woman of His Dreams, you will probably recognize the following love story. I encourage you to read to the end, there’s more. For those who have not read this story before, I pray you will savor the words.
Bruce and Mary Ellen grew up in the mountains of
It was war time when Bruce and Mary Ellen tied the knot, and eleven months after they were married, Bruce was shipped off to the
Never was a man as happy as when Bruce got off the bus, walked to Mary Ellen’s grandparents’ house to see his bride bounding down the steps in her nightgown, rushing into his hungry arms. Never again were they apart for an extended period of time.
Bruce went right to work when he arrived back in the
In November of 2003, we celebrated Bruce and Mary Ellen Jaynes’ 60th wedding anniversary. I was in the throws of writing Becoming the Woman of His Dreams and was hit with the realization of the living example of what I hope this book will help others accomplish. Mary Ellen was the woman of her man’s dreams – and she had been for sixty years. Faces lined with years embraced cheek to cheek, weathered hands and arthritic fingers intertwined and slow but steady gaits served as a picture of enduring love in the winter of their lives. Like a rare treasure, their legacy of commitment and enduring love is the inheritance they leave to four grown children and five grown grandchildren. Oh, and that picture of her legs that Mary Ellen mailed Bruce in 1944 when he was off at war? He never took it out of his wallet.
Last Thursday,
Imagine with me for a moment. Think ahead 20, 40, 60 years. What do you see? Your marriage is becoming what it is going to be – and so much depends on you. No, building a wonderful marriage can not be achieved by one party alone. It takes two. I take that back. It takes three: a woman who’s committed to becoming the woman of her man’s dreams, God Who longs to give her the power and creativity to do so, and a man who clings tightly to both. That’s what Steve’s dad taught us.
I pray that your and your husband’s lives will be so intertwined that you will not be able to see where one ends and the other begins and that your hearts will beat in tandem with each other to the metronome of God’s pulse. Then one day, as your husband reflects on the years you’ve invested he will say… ”Many women do noble things, but you, my dear, surpass them all.”
Let’s Pray
Dear Lord, Thank you for godly examples that have gone before us. Help us to have marriages that will leave a godly heritage for our children and grandchildren. That’s the best inheritance of all.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen
Now It’s Your Turn
Is there a godly marriage in your heritage that you admire?
What makes that marriage special?
If you are married, what about your marriage do you hope your children will learn by example? Ask your husband and consider this question together.
If you want to be blessed, click on this link and watch a tribute to dad’s life.
http://videos.lifetributes.com/?id=14070
More from the Girlfriends
Having a wonderful marriage does not come automatically. It takes determination, commitment, and unselfish love. If you would like to learn how to have the marriage of your dreams, you’ll want to read Becoming the Woman of His Dreams. Leaving a legacy of a godly marriage can begin today.
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Originally published Wednesday, 27 February 2008.