A Love Story

Loved this and wanted to share. By our friend and Pastor Matt Monyhan.

Love is in the air. Can’t you feel it?

This morning, I awoke to snow, did my morning ritual of shower and grooming, and kissed my wife goodbye, wishing her a Happy Valentine’s Day in the process. I was out of our neighborhood before I realized that something had gone terribly wrong on this peaceful morning.

I was not wearing my wedding ring.

Apparently, during the night, I took it off and set it on the desk beside my bed. This is not unusual because the fingers can sometimes swell and I will do things during sleep without realizing it until the next day. What is unusual is for me to forget to put my ring back on. I love wearing my wedding ring.

It reminds me that she picked me.

As the morning has progressed, I feel odd. I look at my finger and it seems empty. Even odder is the indention where my ring has obviously rested for the past 16+ years. It looks like I am still wearing my wedding band, even though it is currently sitting on my desk at home. Looking closer, I notice that the skin tissue where this indention resides is actually calloused, almost scarred, into the shape of my ring.

I think about friends and family that have gone through separation and divorce and…I do not understand. I cannot imagine my life without my wife. I realize that widows and widowers have to learn this difficult lesson by no choosing of their own (as well as unsuspecting spouses, at times). But, in my mind, there is no world in which I would willingly choose to be back on my own, rather than part of a union…and not just any union…I am talking about Stacy, my wife.

She is as much a part of me as the callous on my finger that reminds me of her. I was once asked how I knew she was the One. My answer at the time was simple. How could she not be the One? It was a good answer. But my answer has changed.

She is not the One. We are One.

It would be hard to be tempted by another when we are One. It would be impossible to wish for a life as a half when I am part of a whole. Heck, I am sure we will start to look like each other soon.

I used to tell people that I did not have the perfect marriage…I would tell them nobody does…but that is a lie.

If marriage is defined by the ability to “cleave” to your wife, then mark us down as a 10. I am a better cleaver than Ward, Wally, and the Beaver put together (nice Leave It To Beaver reference). What God has joined together, let no man put asunder.

This is our love story.

By our friend and Pastor Matt Monyhan.