11.29.13

In a little more than 12 hours, I will be saying, “I do” for the last time. At the age of 51, I have come to a place in life that feels like the way life is ‘supposed’ to be. My children are grown and happy, I have achieved all of the things in life that I wanted to achieve, and now, at long last – I have found the man who is clearly the choice for me as my life partner. After years of searching and praying  – God has blessed me with the other piece of my soul – the man of my lifelong dreams for a companion, confidant, & best friend – he is my spiritual, intellectual, physical, and emotional, ‘other half’. Whether we are on an isolated island in Fiji, a winding road in NZ, or in the midst of rush hour in Miami traffic – he’s my ‘wingman’. A man who captured my heart from the very beginning with his confident, yet unassuming demeanor, authenticity, and refreshingly honest transparency. There were never any games. He told me he loved me from the 2nd day and made no apology for it – saying that he knew I was absolutely the woman he had waited a lifetime for. At first his boldness frightened me because I wondered how a man could be sure of his affections so soon. Yet, within days,I became more and more assured of his devotion – his confidence has never waned – his words became actions, which became evidence strengthened – spanning 3 continents and 4 seasons. Steve is a man who had learned exactly what he was looking for – and like me, was unwilling to settle for less in a partner. In our individual journeys we had both learned that our God is a gracious God who loves to shower his children with great gifts, when we ask in faith. All that we have and all of the love that we share is a gift that we will treasure and nurture for the rest of our lives. We endeavor to be the stewards that God has called us to be as we share the blessing of our love with our friends, family, and new friends.

12.29.13

By ‘coincidence’, I returned to complete this blog post exactly 1 month after I began writing it. I have now been married for 30 days. 30 days to affirm our love in the midst of holiday festivities, family chaos, and the stresses of life. Life is difficult and it is painful. Anyone who says otherwise has either not lived long enough or they are anesthetized or living in a self- induced state of isolation and denial away from the trials and triumphs of living in relationship.

Yes. I’ve been married 30 days to the love of my life, I am happier than I’ve ever been, and I’m stating that life is difficult – even when you have the love of your life by your side. 

These 30 days have taught me that the love of a human can be absolutely amazing and transcendent. Human love can help you survive the storms of life when everyone deserts you – even those you thought you could count on in times of trouble….

But human love is not enough.

It’s not.

So if you are putting all of your trust, hope and effort into another human, you will be disappointed. Sooner or later, the human will disappoint you, they’ll let you down – and, you’ll let them down, no matter how valiant your effort.

Human love was never meant to be the cure all.

Human love was designed to reflect a tiny portion of the Source of love to lead you home.

God is love, and God is home. 

God loves you whether you acknowledge him or not.

He always will.

Will you trust Him?

With your life. With your love. With your hope?

I stand at the door and knock. Revelation 3: 20

Dear Readers, thank you for joining me in my journey for the past 3 years through the pain of divorce and my joy of discovering love again when I thought all hope was gone. In my time of reflection, I have decided to end this blog. I feel that it has achieved its purpose – to illuminate the faithfulness of God through my darkest hour to emerge on the other side of divorce #2 with dignity, faith, and love. I will be devoting my time to my new marriage and my writing – several books in the works including a daily devotional, and more….thank you for your faithful reading and inspiring comments. I will post here and on facebook when new titles are released.

Happy New Year, and keep the faith!

Love, Karen

Our beautiful photos were taken by, http://www.kenzieshores.com/. Thank you for the great work, Kenzie, we love them!!