One woman tells that she worked as an assistant at a jewelry store. She often arranged for engaged couples to have their wedding bands engraved with something special — the date they met or married, a sentimental phrase, their names or even their wedding vows. She once asked a bride-to-be what she would like inscribed inside her fiancé’s ring.
“We aren’t very romantic,” the young woman replied. She added that they were marrying on her fiancé’s birthday so he wouldn’t forget the date.
“But isn’t there something you’ll want him to remember as he looks inside his ring?” the assistant wondered.
“There sure is,” she said. And that’s how “Put it back on!” came to be inscribed inside her husband’s ring.
Perhaps she was trying to help along her husband’s commitment to the relationship.
A woman named Catherine, from Scotland, may have wanted to help along her lover’s commitment to their relationship. For several decades actually. Finally, after 44 years of courtship, her 68-year-old boyfriend George proposed. Maybe he was waiting for a convenient time. Maybe was was waiting to get up the nerve. I don’t know.
Catherine, however, was more than understanding about waiting four decades for him to pop the question. “He is a bit shy, you know,” she said.
Author Ken Blanchard says this about commitment: “There’s a difference between interest and commitment. When you’re interested in doing something, you do it only when it’s convenient. When you’re committed to something, you accept no excuses – only results.”
Is there an area of your life that feels more like an interest than a commitment? Does it deserve more from you? You can be interested in a job, or you can be committed. You can be interested in a relationship, or you can be committed. Interest may get you a paycheck or someone to be with, but commitment can change things. Whether you are pursuing a project, following a dream, changing a habit or preparing for your future, can you get the results you want without commitment?
Maybe the real question is not about how committed you are, but rather — are you ready for results? Well, I am very thankful for the results as well as the commitment we share. I never took my wedding band off, even in Vietnam, on liberty in San Juan, or in any other port or circumstance. The results have been a life filled with love and happiness… a fabulous son, daughter-in-law, and two amazing grandchildren.
Today is my wife’s birthday. She is 24 plus shipping and handling. Happy birthday sweetie.
And so, we pray: Lord, I thank you for interests for they keep me going. Even more I thank you for commitment between my wife and me. It has brought many years of happiness (54), joy, laughter and beauty. I thank you for always being part of our lives. Amen.
Grace and Peace
Steve
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The Journey 