It’s a special day for Grandpa and Grandma Crabtree. They’re celebrating 68 years of marital bliss today.

68 years.

Wow.

68 years of marriage, five children, 22 grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren (with two more on the way).

Their marriage reminds me of Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their labor:
If either of them falls down,
one can help the other up.
But pity anyone who falls
and has no one to help them up.
Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
But how can one keep warm alone?
Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

I love that passage because when it talks about the physical (labor, fall down, keep warm, defend themselves) the verse talks about the two. But the last line refers to three – man, woman and God. Even though it takes two to physically labor, it takes three to avoid being broken.

How many times did grandma and grandpa choose their marriage? How many times did they turn their eyes away from themselves? How many times did they die to their own desires? (Our pastor says that the secret to a good marriage is to die to yourself. Then die some more.)

I’ve heard it said before that marriage is designed to make us more holy than happy. Isn’t that the picture of marriage? God gave us marriage as an illustration of the way Christ loves the church. What did Christ do for the church?

He died. He died to make her holy.

When we die to ourselves to serve our spouse, we learn love. How to forgive. We see our own faults in the mirror our spouse holds up to our life. We learn to serve, which helps us become more like Christ.

Thank you, Grandma and Grandpa, for serving each other, and all of us in your family, for the last 68 years. I love you so much!

(Please pray for Grandma. She has been in the hospital for almost two weeks. My ma says watching Grandpa tuck Grandma into bed is the sweetest thing ever.)