Good morning…
I opened my inbox to discover this email.
“Dear Friends,
We hope this letter finds you well. We’re writing to bring you up to speed on some major life events that are occurring with us. After many fulfilling years together we have come to a place where we are moving in different directions and have decided to divorce. Though we will no longer be husband and wife, we know we will always be family.
(Our adopted son) is aware and has responded with compassion, love, and understanding. He knows we are working out the details and logistics, and that we strive to hold him at the center of this process. While this is a heart wrenching time, we trust that love will carry each of us through.
We are asking you to hold each of us in prayer, and give thanks for your friendship and understanding.
Sincerely,
(Signed with our friends’ individual names and their separate new mailing addresses.)”
I remember back to their wedding day nearly thirty years ago. Soaking in their sacred ceremony, my husband and I were newlyweds ourselves, bitten by love’s young bug. They were central to our lives back then; we were central to theirs. The ceremony joining them from two to one was creative and memorable, uniquely “them” and ordained by God. Both grounded deeply in their faith and growing wildly in their spiritual gifts, we adored this husband and we adored this wife.
Fun memories shared with them during our seminary years together will always bless the fabric of our lives. We visited them in Maine once; they visited us in Pennsylvania once. Emails and phone calls over the years have been few and far between, but shared experiences with this couple will always be a special part of our rich history. The four of us will forever be connected soul to soul. That is why my tears now trickle down to join the sea of tears each of our friends now cry. As they go their separate ways, no longer husband and wife, we will always be spiritual family.
Jesus asked, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” Then he pointed to his disciples and said, “Look, these are my mother and brothers. Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother!” (Matthew 12:48, NLT).
…Sue…
