September 26, 2013

Posted on September 26, 2013 by Margaret

Throughout the year 2010, I blogged about each of my 7 children on their birthdays. That included my 2 in-law children (children-in-love), but one was missing. That’s because Brooke hadn’t yet joined our family. As a matter of fact, 2010 was the year she and Klaus first met, and on June 22 of this year, she became a Nyman.

To her credit, she hasn’t been intimidated by her new husband’s large family but has joined our ranks with enthusiasm. Maybe that’s because she lives all of life enthusiastically. I love her exuberance and the fact that it bubbles out of a heart committed to Christ.

Brooke has strong creative genes that show through in her interior decorating, her cooking, her jewelry (left), her wardrobe, and her passion for antique-ing. She can turn almost anything into a work of art and is not above “dumpster diving” for her supplies, most recently orange crates for book shelves. She also sells her creations at flea markets, craft fairs, and in boutiques.

A champion at bargain-hunting, she loves a “rare find” and enjoys stretching a dollar. Surely her careful spending will be a gift to her marriage and family for the rest of their lives.

I fully believe God brings marriage partners together in ever-unique ways in answer to the prayers of both the man and the woman. And if their parents are also praying for the Lord’s choices, how can they miss? Hearing the origins of these love stories is fascinating, especially hunting for God in the details.

Although Brooke and Klaus were raised in towns 110 miles apart, our move to Michigan in 2009 and Klaus’ arrival in early 2010 turned out to be pivot points in bringing the two of them together. I’ll never forget the excited text I received while visiting daughter Linnea and family in Florida, the day after Klaus met Brooke. “What do you think about me dating a 19 year old?” Since he was 29 at the time, it was a good question.

I responded by asking if she was a Christian, and when he said, “Yup!” I figured, why not?

Three years later, the two of them are having fun feathering their nest and settling into married life. And since we live less than a mile apart, I get to see a great deal of them.

One of Brooke and Klaus’ favorite Scripture passages is Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.”

They both trusted the Lord to direct their paths to each other, and as the verse says, if they continue to depend on his understanding over their own, he will continue showing them which paths to take.

Brooke, we’re so glad you’re finally on the family birthday roster. HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you!

“Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you.” (Psalm 37:5)

What’s the Story?

Posted on July 7, 2013 by Margaret

I love a love story and especially enjoy hearing how husbands and wives first met. Very often a man and woman are brought together in the most unusual of ways and frequently from faraway places.

For example, our daughter Linnea (who grew up in the Chicago suburbs) met her husband Adam (from central Florida) while they were both in Youth With A Mission (in Kona, Hawaii). Son Hans (from the same Midwest suburbs) met wife Katy (from England) while they were in a YWAM training school (in New Zealand).

Klaus left well-populated Chicago and moved to our tiny Michigan town where he met his true love Brooke. None of these six would have met without these unusual story lines.

Nate and I met during college, though we didn’t attend the same school. My girlfriend (at Wheaton College) and his guy friend (at Northwestern University) were engaged, and the two of them brought the two of us together on a blind date. Without our friendships with those particular students, he and I would never have met. If we interviewed 1,000 married couples, no two stories would be alike.

So…. does God have a part in all this? I like to believe he puts together these complicated scenarios to cause people to meet, sometimes setting the particulars in place many years before, in order for that one meeting to take place. After all, he’s a God who cares about the details.

One of my favorite love story meetings happened to my neighbor’s sister, but it didn’t begin with special chemistry or sparks flying. It all started when she had a brain aneurysm and lost consciousness. That’s a negative way to begin a positive story, but because of that aneurysm, Gayle had to postpone her plans for a trip to Europe with her girlfriend.

Four months later, fully recovered and feeling much better, Gayle and her friend embarked on their journey abroad. It was on that sight-seeing trip that she met her true love. There were no formal introductions, just a split-second decision to jump into the same cab in Florence, Italy. “If I hadn’t had that aneurysm,” she said, “I would never have met my husband. It’s the mystery of God.”

How much does God shape the circumstances around us? Because I’m convinced he fervently loves us, I believe it’s constant. Every time we pray, “Thy will be done,” he jumps into action, arranging and rearranging the events of our days. I believe life is more than a series of hit-and-miss occurrences, because if it was, we’d be no more than victims of chance. That doesn’t blend well with what we know of our watchful, caring, personal God. Scripture says he’s so involved with our lives that even when we’re rolling dice, he’s the one controlling where they land.

So the next time you bump into an unexpected change of plans or even an irksome interruption, pause to think that God himself might be behind it, setting up something special, just for you.

“We may throw the dice,but the Lord determines how they fall.” (Proverbs 16:33)

Tying the Knot

Posted on June 26, 2013 by Margaret

Brooke and Klaus have spent many months preparing to be wed, not just by gathering decorations, organizing the ceremony, and planning a menu but also by talking with counselors and pastors before ever getting engaged, in an effort to troubleshoot before trouble comes. They arrived at their wedding day more prepared than any couple I know.

Part of the reason for this is that they’d been through several relationship challenges during their 3 years together. These they viewed as blessings in disguise, warnings to show them where weaknesses were hiding. Their desire was to stand together on their wedding day with the wrinkles smoothed out as much as possible.

The result of their counseling was wholehearted, individual dependency on God, and part of their vows to each other last Saturday highlighted promises to keep Jesus Christ as their top priority, to go to him first, should difficulties arise. And just before the ceremony, they went to him in a fresh commitment, and also to request his blessing on their day, their guests, and their lives together. I admire them both greatly.

Because they had put first things first, their wedding day was carefree and joyful, a barefoot bride facing her groom in a lush outdoor setting with guests seated comfortably on bales of hay. Tears from both of them during the ceremony testified to tender hearts for each other and deep sensitivity to God. Nelson, who was officiating, reinforced that: “As long as you both keep Christ at the center of your marriage, you can’t fail.”

On this day when Brooke and Klaus “tied the knot,” they chose to symbolize the importance of tying themselves to the Lord by braiding three cords together. They want their marriage to be a trio with God rather than just a duo. Nelson explained: “Two people who are bound together in Christ are stronger than the individuals themselves.”

Of course we all know that life frequently dishes out the unexpected, and this young couple won’t be exempt. But I do think they’ll do well, mostly because they tied their knot in a triple cord with the One who has the power and ability to hold them together. May God use their relationship to coax the rest of us to do the same.

“Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” (Ecclesiastes 4:12)