I love snow but i have been praying that it would stay at the ski slopes but disappear a little here in Indiana and off my roof!
Larissa and Ian, I have heard such positive comments concerning your engagement! You are both such great examples of endurance!
A few of your comments in the Indiana Gazette article got me thinking. - You stated-"We have absolutely no fears about marrying each other", There are no guarantees of what the future holds. "Anything could happen, But on the same token, that could happen to anyone 10 years into a marriage" You love each other and that's what matters. I Recently read an excerpt from a book that summarized marriage. How brief our time together in marriage is and what the main reason is for our marriages to demonstrate love between Christ and his church. We are excited for you and Ian's marriage together!What a blessing! We are grateful that Christ is your TREASURE and that is what matters most. As Steve has said..We look ahead and "live for that day."
Excerpt from John Piper's Online book This Momentary Marriage A Parable of Permanence
PAGE 178 Conclusion Marriage is not mainly about prospering economically; it is mainly about displaying the covenant-keeping love between Christ and his church. Knowing Christ is more important than making a living. Treasuring Christ is more important than bearing children. Being united to Christ by faith is a greater source of marital success than perfect sex and double-income prosperity. If we make secondary things primary, they cease to be secondary and become idolatrous. They have their place. But they are not first, and they are not guaranteed. Life is precarious, and even if it is long by human standards, it is short. “What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes” (James 4:14). “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring” (Prov. 27:1). So it is with marriage. It is a momentary gift. It may last a lifetime, or it may be snatched away on the honeymoon. Either way, it is short. It may have many bright days, or it may be covered with clouds. If we make secondary things primary, we will be embittered at the sorrows we must face. But if we set our face to make of marriage mainly what God designed it to be, no sorrows and no calamities can stand in our way. Every one of them will be, not an obstacle to success, but a way to succeed. The beauty of the covenant-keeping love between Christ and his church shines brightest when nothing but Christ can sustain it. Very soon the shadow will give way to Reality. The partial will pass into the Perfect. The foretaste will lead to the Banquet. The troubled path will end in Paradise. A hundred candle-lit evenings will come to their consummation in the marriage supper of the Lamb. And this momentary marriage will be swallowed up by Life. Christ will be all and in all. And the purpose of marriage will be complete. To that end may God give us eyes to see what matters most in this life. May the Holy Spirit, whom he sends, make his crucified and risen Son the supreme Treasure of our lives. And may that Treasure so satisfy our souls that the root of every marriage-destroying impulse is severed. And may the marriage-watching world be captivated by the covenant-keeping love of Christ. (John Piper)
1 comment:
I love snow but i have been praying that it would stay at the ski slopes but disappear a little here in Indiana and off my roof!
Larissa and Ian,
I have heard such positive comments concerning your engagement! You are both such great examples of endurance!
A few of your comments in the Indiana Gazette article got me thinking.
- You stated-"We have absolutely no fears about marrying each other", There are no guarantees of what the future holds.
"Anything could happen, But on the same token, that could happen to anyone 10 years into a marriage"
You love each other and that's what matters.
I Recently read an excerpt from a book that summarized marriage. How brief our time together in marriage is and what the main reason is for our marriages to demonstrate love between Christ and his church.
We are excited for you and Ian's marriage together!What a blessing! We are grateful that Christ is your TREASURE and that is what matters most. As Steve has said..We look ahead and "live for that day."
Excerpt from John Piper's Online book
This Momentary Marriage
A Parable of Permanence
http://www.desiringgod.org/media/pdf/books_bmm/bmm.pdf
PAGE 178 Conclusion
Marriage is not mainly about prospering economically; it is mainly about displaying the covenant-keeping love between Christ and his church. Knowing Christ is more important than making a living. Treasuring Christ is more important than bearing children. Being united to Christ by faith is a greater source of marital success than perfect
sex and double-income prosperity.
If we make secondary things primary, they cease to be secondary and become idolatrous. They have their place. But they are not first, and they are not guaranteed. Life is precarious, and even if it is long by human standards, it is short. “What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes” (James 4:14). “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring” (Prov. 27:1).
So it is with marriage. It is a momentary gift. It may last a lifetime, or it may be snatched away on the honeymoon. Either way, it is short. It may have many bright days, or it may be covered with clouds. If we make secondary things primary, we will be embittered at the sorrows we must face. But if we set our face to make of marriage mainly what God designed it to be, no sorrows and no calamities can stand in our way. Every one of them will be, not an obstacle to success, but a way to succeed. The beauty of the covenant-keeping love between Christ and his church shines brightest when nothing but Christ can sustain it.
Very soon the shadow will give way to Reality. The partial will pass into the Perfect. The foretaste will lead to the Banquet. The troubled path will end in Paradise. A hundred candle-lit evenings will come to their consummation in the marriage supper of the Lamb. And this momentary marriage will be swallowed up by Life. Christ will be all and in all. And the purpose of marriage will be complete.
To that end may God give us eyes to see what matters most in this life. May the Holy Spirit, whom he sends, make his crucified and risen Son the supreme Treasure of our lives. And may that Treasure so satisfy our souls that the root of every marriage-destroying impulse is severed. And may the marriage-watching world be captivated by the covenant-keeping love of Christ. (John Piper)
take care
Joe and Jayne
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