Grace and 68 Years

I just returned from a local nursing home after visiting with Harry and Eunice Kuiters. If the Lord permits the Kuiters' will be celebrating their 68th wedding anniversary on December 29th.

During our visit we chatted about the many changes they have witnessed over nearly seven decades of married life. I am compelled to rejoice when I see a couple who have remained true to their wedding vows. I am certain that in their 68 years they have faced many challenges and struggles of almost every sort. If you asked Harry and Eunice how they have reached this milestone they would both tell you that it is the work of God. The all sufficient sovereign grace of God is the only explanation.

I didn't ask the Kuiters' how they got along through those years but thinking about their anniversary reminds me of two men I knew in North Dakota. Alfred and Russell were brothers in law and worked together for I suppose 40 plus years. When I inquired of the secret of a business partnership that lasted so long I received the following explanation. "Whenever Russell would do something to irritate me, before I said anything I always tried to ask 'I wonder how many times I have irritated him?'" That's grace.

May all of us be marked by the kind of attitudes and commitments that give evidence of the working of God's grace in our lives.