Double the Joy: 25 years of Joy
no. 44 - August 11th, 2023
Pictured above: “childhood sweethearts” growing old together and celebrating the gift of doing so.
On Tuesday, my bride and I celebrated our 25th Wedding Anniversary.
We have been together since we were 16, so there is some more history between us, but married now for 25 years.
We got to eat at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, which is a very expensive restaurant - not our typical fare. But when your daughter offers the opportunity to eat on her significant employee discount and that she was paying as an anniversary gift, you rejoice that you have done something right in parenting! Seriously, it was a wonderful meal and time together.
We talked about the next 25 years. In broad terms, as only could be done. We shared some hopes and dreams together. We wondered at what might be or could be. And we marveled at the Lord’s goodness to us in these past 25 years. There was plenty of fodder for discussion.
We hold the past with thanksgiving.
We look forward to the future with hope.
But we also hold our plans and desires loosely. 25 more years is a lot to ask for, especially when you have already seen death stalking at a distance and far closer than comfort would allow. Cancer will do that to you. And we truly don’t know what tomorrow will bring. So we receive each day as a gift and should we accumulate another lot of them, we will do the same: rejoice in the gift of each other, for as long as we have. Whether it is 25 more days, months or years, I cannot guarantee. But I can give thanks today, exult in what I do see, and recognize there is joy intertwined with the seasons of sorrow.
And tomorrow, we look forward to celebrating with family and friends what we spent time Tuesday discussing. In doing so, our joy will be more than doubled.
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Reading Joy
I finished reading, Keeping the Heart by John Flavel. In typical Puritan style, Flavel writes 100 pages on one Bible verse (In this case: Proverbs 4:23 — Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. (ESV)).
This was a very encouraging book and Flavel walks through a myriad of circumstances that we may face that draw our hearts away from God and therefore all the more important that we pay attention to our heart’s disposition toward the Lord:
Here’s a sample:
On the Nightstand: Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose. Winter is now over, at least in 1804-5, and the expedition is about to continue along the Missouri River. In other words, I’ve gotten going again in my reading of this massive history book.
Book 1 in the Expanse Series: another lengthy book, but my aging eyes are thankful for a relatively large font — I’ve reached the halfway point. That’s not true of Undaunted Courage that has me using “readers” for the first time in my life, which I vaguely resent.
The Grumbler’s Guide to Giving Thanks by Dustin Crowe - 81 of 164 read.
I haven’t started anything new, but I am itching to do so.
As they say: “When one book closes, another one opens.” At least I think that’s how that saying goes.
Listening Joy
I do not have many responsibilities related to our 25th Anniversary Party. I can think of two, actually:
Show up.
Make a Music Playlist
Here’s evidence that I have fulfilled #2. I cannot possibly explain all of my music choices here, some which might be a mystery even to me:
Seeing Joy
We live in a “meme” world now, which are horrible for discussing serious matters (theology, politics, etc…), but they can demonstrate the cleverness and creativity of humanity. The best one’s make you laugh or see something you’ve never seen before - or both. This one made me laugh when I came across it on Twitter (now X, for reasons I don’t understand)
And they’re back!
Being cute, again.
That’s all for this week.
As an older friend encouraged me this week: Look for the joy.