Ruby Tuesday

Today marks 40 years since we got married. The Rolling Stones gather no moss. On the other hand – testament to our settledness over the years – my husband and I are proud to feel beautifully and thickly lichen-covered 😊 I married a fungi after all!

Although we may have lived in the same small village for almost all of our married life, we have had opportunity to travel a bit and breathe in some glorious, fresh mountain-top adventures during those years. We’ve also plumbed some depths – chasm-like hard life challenges. Highs and lows – undulations – common to every human story. And amazing though our holidays and exciting experiences have been, it’s in the valleys that our growing together has been most evident. Digging deep, dirt under our fingernails as we have had to tunnel our way together through the tough times, forging a way forward, especially in these years of health struggles and uncertainties.

Togetherness has been the golden fibre which has tracked and led us through the years – our lifeline – in the sunshine and the storms. I am reminded that a three stranded cord cannot be easily broken and there is no question that God has been and continues to be with us in the truest sense, integral to our bond together. An inextricable braid holding us tight.

And so, as we celebrate this Ruby Tuesday of our life together, we feel privileged. And we recognise this is a gift not afforded to all. We are thankful for all that has been and hopeful for things yet to come.

And meantime we sit, settled together in the in-between. Loving and deeply loved. All the while, trusting in a God more preciously present today than any ruby gemstone. More solid and steadfast a foundation in our lives than any earthly rock could ever be.

******