I’m listening to a baby scream as I sit down to blog. Cruz doesn’t want to take his nap this afternoon. I would love a nap and another trip to Tahoe. This picture was taken by our friend Angie last Sunday at that blue, alpine lake high in the mountains. That was then…

This is now…
Today our hands are heavy with the kids down here in the valley. Most days hands grow heavy. Scott and I often fall into bed at night too tired to kiss goodnight. Four little boys can do this to a marriage. And our three older kids come with their own commotion. When I run out of gas, I remind myself God parted the Red Sea. Renewing Scott and me and our marriage is not hard for the Maker of heaven and earth. My job is to wait and watch and woo my husband.
* Wait through days of diapers and dirty laundry and driving the kids all over kingdom come.
* Watch for the moments to spoil Scott with his favorite peanut butter and strawberry jelly sandwich. Or plant a long kiss on his lips. Or pray for him.
* Woo: to sue for the affection of and usually marriage with: court. This was Webster’s interesting and somewhat awkward definition of woo.
Why woo someone you’re already married to?
Why woo when the kids have wiped you out?
When your job has wiped you out?
When financial strain,
                          family strain,
                                      spiritual strain
                                                       has wiped you out?
Because you better woo. Wooing is needed. Marriage can be hard.
I believe it’s harder than getting married in the first place.
Most people get married when they are young and strong.
Staying married until you’re old and frail is a miracle.
Really.
It’s a miracle.
Right up there with parting the Red Sea.
Ask any divorced person this question: Is marriage a miracle?
Many folks would say it’s madness.
                                       Sadness.
                                             Complete and utter badness.
I beg to differ. Jesus compared marriage to God’s covenant of love for His people. This to me is miraculous in light of how marriage is viewed today.
I remind myself from time to time that I’m not just married. I’m in a covenant with God. So I lean on Jesus to keep this covenant. Not just keep it, but bind it to my heart. I’m a person who lives by heart. Where my heart goes, I long to go. And the Bible says the human heart can’t be trusted. So I put my trust in God to keep this heart in my marriage.