Of Unrelenting Honor & By The Grace of God

Therefore, what God has joined together

let not man put asunder.

Mark 10:9

The above words grow more solemn as the years pass.

I've seen God tug the tie many times,

and I have seen man attempt to do it

leaving heartbreak harsher than

the sorrow of death in it's wake...

Today, but by God's grace

 Jim and I celebrate 34 years of marriage.

Because 'love is a many-splendored thing'

It's a two-poem celebration😅💕

Counting dating years we've been together for 40 roller-coaster years!

I'm playing a few of our favorite love songs today

Hello Love, Hank Snow

 

I'd Love You All Over Again- Alan Jackson

Of Unrelenting Honor...

Of cares weathered together

Of vows highly esteemed

Of tests to ‘I do’s’ tether

In ways we never dreamed

Of constant, sacred learning

Of faithfulness, because

There can be no returning

To life the way it was

Of compassionate living

And in ire’s pricks and stings

Of merciful forgiving

Because love bears all things

Of being understanding

When we don’t understand

Not selfishly demanding

To force the other’s hand

Of praying without ceasing

To be humble in heart

For there is no releasing

This pledge ‘ till death do part’

To be best friends forever

And never say, ‘I’m done’

When Satan tries to sever

The cord that makes two, one

Of sharing pain and pleasure

Committed to love’s vows

Of treasuring the measure

Of all God’s grace allows

And, whatever betide us

Of hilltop or of vale

Of asking Him to guide us

So, love will never fail

Of critique left unspoken

Of unuttered lament

Lest blame becomes love’s token

Rather than compliment

Of choosing to be grateful

Of laughing till we cry

Of fighting to be faithful

Until God pulls the tie

Of unrelenting honor

For love is like a cup

That always needs another 

...self cannot fill it up 

Let's fill it with an ocean

And in its pouring prove

With beholden devotion 

The greatest of these; love

© Janet Martin

But By the Grace of God (till death do part)

Not counting all the times, we didn’t see quite eye to eye

When your druthers and mine were like December meets July

When opposites that once seemed so attractive start to irk

As we reevaluate what it takes to make ‘us’ work

Not counting all the days when love's 'tone' was misunderstood

And we did not respond in ways like two grown adults should

When we behaved like rivals rather than husband and wife

I’d say we are exceptional at rocking married life

Not counting all the rules that unschooled mid-life love ignores

Until our tempers cool, no longer fooled by lion-roars/'winning' scores

I’d say in spite of all the times we bite instead of kiss

That you and I are prime examples of sweet, wedded bliss

I hope that life becomes a 'losing track of years' because

Of moment-thrum's momentous sums; the love-story of 'us'

Where, in spite of those times we blush some sad excuse to fend

We'll look back on a life of 'us'; love, faithful to the end

© Janet Martin