The number 12 is usually reserved for eggs and donuts, not mile marker anniversaries.
Yet, we measure much of our life in 12s without realizing it:
- There are 12 months in a year.
- We spend 12 years getting our high school degree.
- 12 years of childhood before our teenage years.
- And we even measure our days with 12 hours on a clock.
So while 12 might not be a milestone anniversary in the traditional sense, it has me considering how we measure our time.
HOW WE MEASURE TIME
Twelve years ago, when we got married, I jokingly said that “buying a VW bus” should be in our wedding vows. It wasn’t. But I still hoped Joseph would make it happen… someday.
Well, that someday finally came.
Owning a ’75 VW bus this past year has been one of my biggest blessings! There is something timeless about these buses, like you’re entering a bygone era and, no matter how much changes around you, you can keep holding onto something worth holding onto.
Good things are worth waiting for, and great things are timeless.
“Things of quality have no fear of time.” ~Unknown
Would it have made more sense to own a VW bus when we were single and independent? Maybe. Would it have been more typical to wait until retirement? Of course!
But I always imagined our kids piling in with snacks and sandy feet, late nights after a campfire, the pop top raised beneath a sky full of stars, slow mornings spent warming coffee over the camp stove, slider doors open to whatever adventure was waiting outside!
And now it’s a reality. After a lifetime of dreaming, the time has finally come.
Now don’t get me wrong. Owning a classic car *while romanticized* is actually a lot of work. I know it sounds cheesy, but even more than the bus itself, the bigger blessing was marrying the kind of man who is willing to fix it up.
A man who doesn’t give up on things when they are old.
A man who recognizes some things are worth saving.
A man who spends his time fixing it up.
That’s God’s provision, right there.
So, no, “buying a VW bus” wasn’t in our wedding vows. But you know what was? The recognition of God’s provision.
TIME AS AN INSTRUMENT OF GOD’S PROVISION
As Christians, time is measured differently. We don’t just recognize the hands on the clock. We recognize that time is one of God’s instruments of provision.
Because God’s providence isn’t just what He provides. It’s also when He provides it.
And just like Volkswagen buses and marriage vows, some things get even better with time!
- Ecclesiastes 3:11: “He has made everything beautiful in its time.”
- Psalm 31:15: “My times are in your hands.”
- Galatians 6:9: “Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”
- Lamentations 3:25: “The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.”
God uses time in our lives to teach us patience. We wait. We yearn. We learn to submit our longings. God uses time to teach us stewardship. It is a resource that runs out. We only have so many days on this earth, and we are daily making decisions on how to spend the time we are given. God also uses time to humble us. With every passing year, we are reminded that we are finite creatures with eternity in our hearts. We, too, are meant to be timeless.
Time is used to measure many things, but perhaps most of all, it shows us God’s providence. He has a purpose. He has a plan. And it extends far beyond this life into eternity!
At the end of our standard wedding vows, we made this promise to each other 12 years ago: “I choose you today and everyday. I trust that you are God’s provision for me.”
“I choose you today and everyday. I trust that you are God’s provision for me.”
Our Wedding Vows
God didn’t just provide me with a husband on my wedding day. Over the past twelve years, He has continued to provide through Joseph every day.
Sometimes that looks like:
- encouragement through his words.
- conviction through his honesty.
- comfort through his presence.
- love through his touch.
- laughter through his personality.
- strength through his faith.
- Oh! And a running VW bus through his patience and hardwork 😉
So this year I’m especially grateful for God’s provision and the wedding vows that recognized it. We chose each other, yes, but only by the Sovereign hand of God bringing the two of us together.
*Photo Credit: Amanda Mauer
