I Am My Beloved’s and My Beloved is Mine

Tomorrow is our 50^th wedding anniversary. I close my eyes and I can still see my Mama helping me into my dress, my Daddy telling me not to cry as I thank him for caring for me all those years.

Waiting for me at the altar was the love of my life. I call him “J”. Not Jay, or Jim, what most people call him, but to me, he is my J. Without a period.

We exchanged vows that day, they included these words: I do promise and covenant: before God and these witnesses; to be faithful and loving.

 We were both reared in the church, but we were so naïve, we had no concept of what it meant to covenant with one’s life partner.

WHAT IS A COVENANT?

Wikipedia, which probably doesn’t truly understand a Biblical covenant, says this.

Covenants define obligations and commitments, but they are different from a contract because they are relational and personal.

Certainly, the vows we made were personal and they said we would keep our relationship one of faithfulness for our lifetime. That covenant was also between us and God. We promised to be faithful in our relationship with Him that day. Separately, and as a couple. After all, the two of us became one that day (Read Matthew 19:4-6).

The vows we made that day are among the most serious commitments we would ever take in our lifetime.

I Am My Beloveds and My Beloved is Mine @DDuPreeWilliams #marriage #faith #CovenantMarriage Share on X

WHAT WE’VE LEARNED

Here we are 50 years later and boy, have we learned a thing or two.

It took us a while. If I told you, most people who know us wouldn’t believe how long it took us to have God at the center of our marriage.

That’s probably because even we thought He was. It has been only in the past three years that we’ve come to know just how wrong we were. But through and by God’s grace and mercy, we are finally the married couple we should have been all these years. We now see that.

There’s a saying, you don’t know what you don’t know.

That was true for us. We thought we were doing all the right things. Saying all the right things. Making good decisions for us and our children. We were in church every Sunday. We took our kids; we didn’t just drop them off. We both sang in the choir for most of those 50 years.

We were talking the talk, but neither of us was walking the walk. We just looked that way from the outside. We were so good at this, we even had ourselves fooled.

ENOUGH!

But there came a day when God had had enough. He brought all our shortcomings into the light. Literally. And yes. It really was a real light shining, but you don’t need to know the details.

From that day forward, we knew we had to change.

I sign my books with John 8:32 …and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free (ESV).

For the first time, we realized we’d not been who we thought we were for all those years. Yes, we knew who Jesus is. We’d both been baptized. But friends, there is a difference in knowing who Jesus is and knowing Him. That baptism was meaningless without us having an intimate relationship with the Christ who died for our sins.

REPENTANCE AND THANKFUL HEARTS

We are so thankful that God got our attention big time that day.

Since that time, both of us have asked for forgiveness for so many things. For not living the lives we were meant to live. For not being who God created us to be.

Beginning then to now, we read our Bibles together daily (other than when we had Covid and had to stay apart, and for a few days when this earthly life takes over). We’ve been through the entire Bible three times, and we are making our way through the New Testament slowly, taking time to dig deep, to discuss it and what it means, and how it applies to our lives.

Because we knew, without a doubt, that we were new creations—Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV)—our nephew, Gray Foshee, a minister, baptized both of us in June of 2021. Many members of our family were there, including my precious sister Bobbie who went to be her Lord in November 2021.

DIFFERENT BECAUSE OF HIM

I cannot begin to tell you how different we both are. We have joy like never before. We know now what it means to be the husband and wife described in Ephesians 5:22-33. We laugh together, we cry together, we pray together while holding fast to one another.

Even our children have told us they see how different we are.

And it’s all because of Him.

Friends, Christ can make a difference in your life, too. Maybe you’re like us—you think you’re okay because you’re doing all the right things. But until you have the knowledge of Christ, of God, of the power of the Holy Spirit in your life, you are merely talking the talk. Get into God’s Word. Get to know Him and His character. You begin this journey by making the decision to learn about God’s character. That starts with opening your Bible to Genesis and reading all the way through. God is so much deeper than a few words from a sermon on Sunday morning.

It’s all about a personal relationship with the One who died for you.

If you don’t know Him like this, reach out to me. Send me a PM or an email. Put a message to me on this post. I’ll be glad to talk with you and pray for you.

We are so, so thankful to be celebrating these 50 years.

We don’t regret the first years, prior to this change in 2020. We loved one another and we had four beautiful baby boys born out of that love. God blessed us with the wonderful daughter-of-our-hearts, and two perfect granddaughters. Now we understand that whatever wrongs we may have done in those first 47 years, God has redeemed them and He is still in the process of restoring anything that was lost.

For now, we celebrate, and we look forward to eternity together.

To my darling, beloved husband, my J … Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name . . .  together (Psalm 34:3 ESV). I love you for all eternity.

Blessings, y’all!

The title of this post comes from Scripture in the Song of Solomon 6:3 (ESV).  In Hewbrew, the words are Ani L’Dodi. J and I will be exchanging new rings with those words inscribed on the outside, in Hebrew. They were made for us in Jerusalem. Understand that this Schripture isn’t only about a man and a woman but about God as their Beloved, and they are His. This song is based on that Scripture. One of my favorites. I simply adore Paul Wilbur. He is Messianic and does many concerts/worship services in Israel and all over the world. Blessings, y’all!