Upcoming anniversary (rambling thoughts)

A week from today Jim and I will celebrate 25 years of marriage. People keep asking if we aren't planning to take some special trip or cruise together. We aren't. I've thought this through, and here is my response.

Having an anniversary so close to Christmas makes for an inopportune time to sneak off by ourselves for a week. This is just when the family is all coming together again after almost two years. We'd prefer to celebrate with our own children who have enriched our life together. Instead of going away, we plan to just have our traditional overnight in Oaxaca City on the 18th as a couple, and then take the whole family (including my mom!) out for a lovely Mexican buffet at a special restaurant once everyone is here.

Since we had such a simple wedding 25 years ago, I always dreamed of having a big church ceremony together with our children to commemorate our 25 years together. Now that the time has come, though, any extra resources are being spent for our children's weddings. This is as it should be.

Instead of dreaming of a summer trip to the Caribbean, we are planning another family reunion in Wisconsin when Chris and Amy get married next July.

Lest my kids feel like they have deprived us of a honeymoon, I really want to add that even if we had the time and money for a cruise, I'm not convinced I could rationalize that kind of expense. Unless someone just blessed us with some crazy free vacation, (and I'm NOT suggesting anyone do this!), I wonder if it wouldn't bother me to enjoy such decadent luxury knowing that fellow Christians are suffering for the gospel, and that non-Christians are preparing for an eternity of suffering because they never heard the gospel.

These are just questions I am struggling with. I am not passing judgment on people who spend their retirement seeing the world and having a good time. I'm not saying it's wrong to take honeymoons. I'm just rambling about my own convictions at this point. The more real Jesus becomes to me, the more I want to make sure that my choices in life are Bible-based, not just following the world's patterns and examples.

I guess it boils down to a desire to be a good steward of any time, money, and energy God blesses me with. Focusing on self seems like taking a few steps back in my spiritual growth. When I focus on God, He surprises me with blessings far beyond my wildest expectations. Jim and I were able to go to Thailand back in 2005. We would never have planned such an adventure, but God blessed us with a ministry trip that took us to that beautiful country. No conniving, no going into debt, no guilt. It wasn't exactly an anniversary trip, but it was a great time of making new memories together. That's good enough for me.

If anything, I want to go to Ecuador and Peru with Jim. Not to be tourists or stay in some swanky hotel necessarily, but to see what God is doing through fellow missionaries down there. Jim made that trip before without me, and I want to go back to share it with him. That's what I'd like to do. Someday....

For now there is no place I'd rather be than right here in Oaxaca with my whole family together for the holidays. I am blessed, content, and rich beyond measure. For all I know, this could be our last Mexican Christmas all together. I'm going to enjoy it for all it's worth!

Jim returns from being with his mom in Ohio tonight, Tim and Heidi arrive this weekend, Mike and Hannah get here on Monday, and then Chris, Amy, and my mom fly in on the 23rd. Yes, I am excited! I'll post photos as soon as I have some.

You might also like to read: Another Anniversary
The Story Behind our Stockings ( with some background about our wedding date)
Another post with photos from our trip to Thailand