“You will never regret loving this much . . .”

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I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD. — Psalm 27:13,14

What if my husband is injured? What if my wife . . . ?

During war the “what ifs” can become reality.  It is then that “for better or for worse” means something beyond what we imagined on our wedding day.

Perhaps you’ve been following the recovery of Travis Mills on www.travismills.org

Like Travis Mills, our wounded warriors are heroes—every one of them. And their families are heroes with the courage and grace to fight for and with their loved ones for recovery and rehabilitation. Families like Travis’ are an inspiration to us all.

Although not the story of a brave military couple, Ian & Larissa Murphy’s story is equally inspirational:

In the video you see Ian and Larissa reading from John Piper’s book This Momentary Marriage. Here are some of the quotes that perhaps this couple has taken to heart:

“. . in marriage you live hour by hour in glad dependence on God’s forgiveness and justification and promised future grace, and you bend it out toward your spouse hour by hour—as an extension of God’s forgiveness and justification and promised help.” (p. 43)

“One of the emphases so far in this book has been that staying married is not mainly about staying in love, but about keeping covenant. . . Keeping first things first makes second things better. Staying in love isn’t the first task of marriage. It is a happy overflow of covenant-keeping for Christ’s sake.” (p. 74)

“So marriage is like a metaphor or an image or a picture or a parable or a model that stands for something more than a man and a woman becoming one flesh. It stands for the relationship between Christ and the church. That’s the deepest meaning of marriage. It’s meant to be a living drama of the covenant-keeping love between Christ and the church. (p. 75)

Larissa Murphy shares with us on her blog some thoughts which are equally profound but very personal regarding her life with her husband, Ian:

A friend who was a primary caregiver for his wife with cancer and participated in Ian and Larissa’s wedding told her, “’You will never regret loving this much.’” Larissa added that unlike this dear man, and many couples, “we didn’t face sickness when we were grandparents. We started there. And it was severe.” “Marrying Ian meant that I was signing on to things that I don’t think I ever would’ve chosen for myself—. . . But in light of all the practicals, and emotionals, it was so very simple: we love each other. And we love God. And we believe He is a sovereign and loving God who rules all things.” (“Why We Got Married”)

“I didn’t know contentment in my prosperity—contentment then meant health and ease, not God. God has not given us an indication that Ian will be fully healed here, which means that we have needed to enlist ourselves in our suffering. We still pray for complete healing, but we also pray for strength to endure a life-long disability. We are learning that contentment is produced as we obey and act on His promises, like the one mentioned above, ‘I can do all things through him who strengthens me.’” (“Learning Contentment in Suffering”)

Military marriages know much of loneliness, sacrifice, perspective and unselfishness. Perhaps these stories are ones of encouragement to you. Perhaps they are an inspiration.

Whatever they are, we believe that they are of God, and are excellent and praiseworthy. To God be the glory.

Work Cited:

Piper, John. This Momentary Marriage: A Parable of Permanence (Wheaton: Crossway Books, 2009).

Questions to Share:

1. In what ways has your marriage been one of sacrifice? How have you seen God encourage you in the midst of sacrificial living?
2. Who has inspired you in your military marriage? What was it that was an inspiration to you?