Linda Stoll: In Which I Give My Husband the Last Word . . . & the Giveaway Winner is Announced!

I can think of no finer way to wrap up this Marriage Mini-Series than to have my husband put his 2 cents on the table. Some people think he's opinionated, and that could be said, I guess. But I've come to rely on him as a hard working, servant-hearted man of God ... with a tender, compassionate soul tucked beneath a wealth of common sense and solid wisdom.

To say that I'm grateful for the gift of who God's shaped him to be would be a ridiculously vast understatement.

I'm forever in love.

What could the other 1/2 of Linda, this guest writer, possibly have to say about marriage? Probably nothing that has not been said before, though after celebrating 40 years of marriage on April 3rd, it seems there must be something to say.

I've kind of put this off for the month even though from time to time I was nudged. Sure I had my excuses, what spouse doesn't? Writing is not my strong point, in fact it's far from it. But look what I've achieved here. 4 sentences and I have said absolutely nothing.

I have, though, over the month been thinking about what I'd write so here comes 2 observations after 40 years of marriage.

First, I've learned to believe most things in life have a way of working themselves out.

We tend to get in the way, though. Sometimes you do have to, but I'd bet 80% of the time most things just work themselves out fine without our extra hoopla or the great rodeos we like to create.

So about all we do with our overactive engagement is mess things up that will naturally happen anyway.

I will grant you for those 20%, engaging at full force is necessary. If you can figure out which 80% to leave alone and which 20% to aggressively engage in, well you are better than me, so obviously this is a constant work in progress.

Second, in the grand scheme of life, does it really matter?

Sure there are things in life we are passionate about, but everything can't have that same level of importance. So like I could care little about what color flowers to plant, but woe to you if you put my hammer back in the wrong place. Ok, a bit extreme in both cases but maybe it makes the point.

Many things can be answered by, 'ok, sounds fine.'

So maybe pick one or two things to be passionate about and let the rest go.

I'd like to say that after 40 years I got it all down, but the fact is, short of heaven, nothing is going to be perfect.

On a personal note {assuming Linda still allows me the floor}, I recognized years ago the Lord's calling on Linda to minister to people through conversations, counseling, coaching, and writing. She is faithful not only to me, but to each of you.

So as in our marriage she wants the best for us, she wants equally the same for you.

Tim