The Sidney Sun-Telegraph - Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper

My cowboy and I are about to celebrate our 17th wedding anniversary. In the scheme of anniversaries it seems somewhat insignificant. We seem to get excited about those divisors of 5 – 15th, 20th, 25th, 50th, etc., but 17 is a prime number with no great value. Or at least it seems like that should be true. The reality is that I have enjoyed my cowboy for 17 years of marriage.

As we were discussing anniversary plans I looked at him and said, “I still like you.” A smile spread across his face and he said, “I’m pretty fond of you, too.” This was the phrase that caught me hook, line and sinker all those years ago.

Being married is one of the hardest jobs in the world. We often tell our college ministry kids that after a solid relationship with Jesus there will be three more important decisions in life: 1) your job – how you will spend about eight to twelve hours of your day, 2) your family – how you will spend your time not at work, and 3) your bed – you’ll spend about a 1/3 of your life there sleeping, so make a good choice there as well. Your job and bed can be replaced and changed as often as needed, but the family should not be exchanged. Marriage is a permanent covenant.

Marriage is hard work but it is also heart work. We are selfish beings and at our core we often want it our own way. Being married means being willing to compromise and communicate. My cowboy and I have failed at this so many times that is it remarkable that we made it this far. We also firmly believe that what the Lord has joined together, no man can separate.

There has been a scripture that has been so prevalent on my mind over the past week. The first half of John 10:10 is, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.” This week felt like we got run over by a bulldozer. This cotton-pickin’ pandemic is still using way too much of our communication time. We had a fair animal that got terribly sick and crushed one of my cowpoke’s heart. We had a mare that broke her leg and had to be put down. We had two of our best friends make three trips to the emergency room. All the while, my cowboy and I started spitting fire at one another. What in the world was going on? We went back to this scripture and realized there was a clear attack of the enemy on our marriage and our family.

The amazing thing that happens when a marriage is anchored in the hope of Jesus and the truth of scripture is we also know that this is not where that scripture ended. The second half of John 10:10 is, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” We reminded one another of this truth and proclaimed it over our home, our marriage and our family….AGAIN… AND… AGAIN...AND…AGAIN! We were not going to let the week of chaos and heartache be where we left things.

After this many years, I not only love my cowboy, but I also really like him, and those are two very different things.