Family has always been the context for people to become their best and marriage is where it starts. Although marriage and family can be one of the hardest things we do, it is also one of the most noble. Leslie and my story – like yours – is a story still being written. It is not all sunny days, but it's the only life worth living. (Click here to read more of Leslie and my story: https://www.ridinghighministries.org/about)

I rarely use the word perfect because God is the standard of perfection, but I'm giving myself permission to call this last week spent with my family as perfect. As a family, we drove to California to do a private ceremony for Colton and his new bride, Abigail. Never has there been a time where I have seen my sons show more love for each other than what was expressed through this entire wedding process.

Leslie and I have always taken our roles as parents very seriously and at one time I thought I was doing a great job. Then the teenage years hit with Colton, and all the sudden I thought I really must have failed him as a father. I watched the stupid things he did and the rebellious attitude he had, and I was broken hearted believing it was all my fault. Then came Tanners teenage years, and I was now certain of it - I suck as a dad.

What I couldn't see during these times, was that love is only expressed when things are out of order. Think about it as you read 1 Corinthians 13. Love is patient, love is kind, it bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Those attributes can only be displayed - if those you are loving give you a need for these qualities. What I couldn't see was that love was being perfected in me and being demonstrated to our sons.

Jesus said that if we love Him, we will love each other. I believe I received a great big dose of revelation on how our Father feels when we take care of each other. I watched my whole family labor tirelessly, laugh, sing, dance, cry, pick each other up and give great counsel. They were men who fought for each other and made space for the wedding we have prayed over for 23 years.

I stood alongside my son with my eyes filled with tears as Abigail walked out of the house and joined us at the altar. Her beauty and purity were the center piece of that beautiful setting. Then things shifted as they knelt in worship. In that moment, the air was filled with the reality of the King of kings breathing His Spirit over what He designed. Two became one and they humbled themselves and poured out their hearts in worship to the perfect Father.

Marriage is sacred and worth fighting for. The visible image of the invisible God; Jesus and His Church. Love truly covers a multitude of sin!

Wholeheartedly,

Todd