January has brought a couple of significant celebrations to the Ruskamp and Wieczorek families. On January 3rd my parents celebrated 55 years of marriage. On January 19th my in-laws celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. Both couples still live in the homes they’ve been in most or all of their married lives.
Commitment
to a spouse through the good times and the bad, sickness and health, till death
do you part is easy to say when you’re in your 20’s with nothing but blue skies
in your eyes. I am pretty certain both
couples would tell us they have endured plenty of severe weather.
I
know that my in-laws endured many difficulties including farming through
droughts and floods, watching the fire department put out flames coming from
their home, having several children severely injured in an auto accident and
losing a son in an auto accident to name a few. They also raised ten children with the usual
challenges that go along with parenthood. |
| Francis and Bernardine 1953 |
 |
| Bernardine and Francis 2014 |
My
own parents also had plenty of difficulties as they raised six children and
faced their stormy times. Mom and Dad currently face the challenge of the “through
sickness and health” portion of their vows.
My mom is the caregiver for my dad who is dealing with physical
limitations and Alzheimer’s.
 |
| Clemence and Barbara 1959 |
 |
| Barbara and Clemence 2014 |
What
both of these couples have in common is their faith. Both couples have endured challenges that
lead many other couples to divorce. Both couples have turned their hearts and
their will towards God. They chose not
to blame God for the problems they faced and lived the line “thy will be done”
from the Lord’s Prayer.
It
was through the eyes of a stranger that I suddenly realized how significant the
example of these couples and others who stay together through thick and thin
really is. That stranger was a woman I
met at a grocery store volunteer opportunity I had. She shared with me the recent 65th
wedding celebration she and her husband along with their family had just
recently enjoyed. She also shared with
me the importance faith has been in their lives. |
| Joan and Steve |
As
Steve and I continue our married journey beyond our 32 years of marriage I hope
that I continue to remember how important faith must be for both of us on this journey. It is not my will but thy will we must
continually seek from God. I pray that the prayer of St. Francis may
become my prayer in my relationship with Steve as well as for married couples
everywhere.
Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
O, Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
O, Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love;
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
it is in dying that we are born again to eternal
life.
