Advent Devotion: Day 12

Thursday, December 8

Psalm 146:5-10; Ruth 1:6-18; 2 Peter 3:1-10

Hope

My husband and I will celebrate our twentieth wedding anniversary in June of 2023.  I still remember the day we were married like it was yesterday. It was a very hot summer day. We had friends and family in town from all over the United States to celebrate. I remember the feeling of hope for our future, the hope of a family, the hope of enduring love, the hope of a wonderful journey together, and the hope of a life full of laughter. We had no idea what we were getting into, but we sure were hopeful! It’s funny now looking back. We promised to love each other. We promised to respect each other. I even promised that I wouldn’t always cook or clean, or even walk the dog. He also knew what he was getting into. To say he has learned patience with me is an understatement. 

I remember we recited from Ruth 1:16: “Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.” Of course, because we are who we are, at the rehearsal we said, “Your peeps will be my peeps.” Remember that hope of a life full of laughter that I mentioned earlier? To this day we still giggle when we hear the passage.

We have been to numerous weddings over the years. Weddings of friends, former students, colleagues, and family. At each wedding, we hear the same words of hope recited from bride to groom and groom to bride. Weddings are hopeful. They are a time to celebrate the union of two people but also a time to remember that we are each blessed with families and friends who love us, people who care enough to be there to celebrate with us and give of their lives to help our bond stay strong. People who will pray for us when we are celebrating the birth of a child, the loss of a family member, and the stress of teenagers driving.

I still can’t believe it has been almost twenty years. We only dated six months before he asked me to marry him. The best part is that through the entire time, we have remained faithful, hopeful, and while we didn’t always like each other, we always loved each other.  With each passing year, we are reminded of our day of hope. A day that before God, family and friends we promised to love each other, go with each other, stay with each other, love our people and our God.

Mischia Taylor
Godbold College of Business
Assistant Professor of Marketing