A Triple-Braided Cord

Journals are a great way to record the work of the Holy Spirit in your life. I recently came across an old journal of mine from 2012 and started thumbing through it. When I got to the entry for August 29, 2012, I stopped to read the words I wrote about what the Lord was doing in my life at that time. Or, more specifically, what He was doing in my marriage. My wife, Linda and I were working through some struggles at that time. On that particular day, I wrote about something that had happened the day before, something that marked a breakthrough for our marriage. I’d like to share that entry today, just a little more than a week before Linda and I celebrate our 26th wedding anniversary. Here’s what I wrote on that late August day in 2012, while we were on a vacation trip in the Poconos:

Thank you, Lord, for another beautiful day. Thank you for allowing us to have a wonderful time away. Thank you for bringing Linda and me closer in these past few days. I especially thank You for our hike yesterday, which turned into a lesson for both of us that we will always cherish.

Yesterday was such a breakthrough day for us both. The challenges we had on our hike were truly lessons in cooperation, leadership, and love. You gave me an opportunity to be a leader and I am grateful for that. Crossing that stream gave me an opportunity to show my love for Linda and I am grateful for that as well. I know that, in the past, I would likely have become impatient with Linda for being so slow and tentative crossing the stream. I may not have gone back into that ice cold water to help her across. I was so aware of the difference in me. I was patient and, when I saw how tentative and nervous Linda was, I just walked right back into that stream, despite the fact that my feet were already cold and red. My only thought was to help Linda to get across safely and quickly. After leaving the stream, when we got to the area where the path got narrow and a bit scary, I took the lead and, following my example, Linda overcame a situation she was first thinking about turning back from. Linda brought to mind the passage from Ecclesiastes that says:

“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up.” (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10a)

Thank you for yesterday, Lord. It was one of the best days of our marriage!

It truly was one of the best days of our marriage. It was a turning point and it was a day we will never forget. And, I know that it’s because it was not just the two of us there that day. The Holy Spirit was with us and as it says in Ecclesiastes 4:12, “Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.”

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.