On Saturday afternoon, I was walking through an infirmary in Jamaica when a sweet soul in a bright orange dress laid in her bed smiling widely and waving at me. I drew closer, shook her hand and introduced myself to her. Beside her bed was a wheelchair and a small bedside table.

On her table, a bible was laid open to the book of John. I talked to her for a few minutes and then I waved some of my friends over to meet this happy spirit. We circle around her bed as she shared passages of the bible from memory with us. We were humbled by her joy and her faith. Then she started handing out presents to us.

“I want to give you something,” she said as she looked at me. She grabbed a braided bracelet from her bedside table and tied it around my wrist.

She tied it so tightly I could hardly get it off to sleep that night. The three pieces of thread, in native colors of the Jamaican flag, were weaved so strongly together, with no gaps so that it looked like one piece of continuous yarn with three colors. Of course, I KNOW this is an illustration God has given me through this sweet angel of his for this verse:

For me, this bracelet represents God in the gold, me in the green, my husband, Nick in the black. With the Lord holding us together, we will stay connected, strong and steady and without any gaps for others to enter in to this sacred covenant we entered into eleven years ago.

This verse and illustration is now used in wedding ceremonies. My sister in law included it in hers. And I can see why.

We can trust God with our marriages.

We can trust him and call out to him when we have anxiety and worry about the current state of our relationship.

We can trust him and call out to him to protect our bond and keep it strong when others around us are unraveling.

We can trust and call out to him when we are at the end of our own rope in our marriage.

When we don’t think we can hold it together anymore, we can trust and call out to him and know HE CAN.

I don’t know about you, but I find so much freedom knowing God is able to hold this beautiful, but complicated thing called marriage together, making it strong, unified, and better with every twist and turn as long as we trust Him and follow his pattern for it.

My daughter colored today’s illustration for me and then braided my hair like she does every night. 🙂 

The other passage, Philippians 2:1-11, in the Day 2 study guide is my favorite, because it has been one of the most heart-altering passages in my wifehood. Studying the attitude and heart of how our Jesus lived is powerful.

Praying for you ladies and all the marriages represented in reading these words! Keep digging in and applying his Word to your lives.