THE LORD WROTE US IN LOVE | Larry & Donna’s Story | 35 Years Kept

THE LORD WROTE US IN LOVE Some love stories make more sense when you look backward. Donna and I have known each other for 37 years and have been married for 35. When we first came into each other's lives, neither one of us could have seen everything that was ahead. We couldn't see the alcoholism and the battle that would eventually bring me to surrender. We couldn't see the rebuilding that would follow. We couldn't see the family we would raise, the sickness we would face, the long working years, the miles we would travel, the tears we would cry or the laughter that would eventually fill so many of those same places. And we certainly couldn't see ourselves all these years later, looking backward and recognizing something that wasn't nearly as obvious while we were living it. Jesus Christ was working on both of us. That's what “The Lord Wrote Us in Love” means to me. I don't believe Donna and I simply stumbled through life and somehow got lucky enough to still be together. Looking back, I can see two lives being changed. Two people being drawn closer to Jesus. And as He worked on each of us, He also drew us closer to one another. To me, that's a miracle within itself. Our story hasn't been perfect. I brought alcoholism, broken trust and plenty of my own mistakes into our marriage. Donna didn't magically erase those things, and she was never responsible for keeping me sober. My sobriety belongs between me and Jesus Christ. But I believe He gave me an extraordinary woman to walk beside me. Trust came back slowly. Our marriage grew. We raised our children. When our little girl battled leukemia, we discovered what it meant to face something neither of us could fix. There were years when we worked opposite schedules just trying to keep everything moving. There were family struggles. There were prayers. There were vacations and road trips. There were seven-hour drives when Donna and I never even needed to turn on the radio because we never ran out of things to talk about. And through all of it, something kept growing. Us. Today Donna is still the person I want beside me. She's my earthly angel. She's my forever person. But above both of us is Jesus Christ. He's the reason I can look backward across all these years and see more than coincidence. I can see a story being written while we were busy living it. There were chapters we never would have chosen. There were pages we didn't understand. There were times when neither of us could see what the next paragraph was going to say. But here we are. Still married. Still talking. Still laughing. Still traveling. Still dreaming. Still loving each other. And still following Jesus. That's why I didn't call this song simply another love song. Because when I look at Donna and look back across our life together, I believe our love story has another Author. The Lord wrote us in love. And He's still writing. 35 YEARS KEPT Jesus first. Donna beside me. And counting.