So beautifully written, Dorina. And thank you for including a wedding photo. It doesn’t seem possible it’s been a decade already for you and Shawn. And I love how you continue to honor Ericlee’s memory in your marriage and covenant of family life.
Thank you for sharing transparently about your grief into a glory story. In my family some of the “just-so-happened” events are my Oma coming to Switzerland to be a governess and meeting my Opa. Then my Dad was born during WW2. I think he was a bright spot in trying times. He later traveled to South America on a cruise and met a couple from America. The man sponsored people to work for a 2 year period. My Dad had a dream to work and live in America. After several years in PA, he was about to go back home, and then he met my Mom!
The way you thread together the Ruth narrative with your own story is beautifl. That observation about Bethlehem being both the place where Ruth found redemption and where the Shepherd-King was born - that geographic connection really hits different when you think about how God works through specific places and moments in time.
What resonates most is your honesty about how joy and grief aren't sequential - they waltz together. So much writing about redemption tries to package it as a clean progression from darkness to light, but your framing acknowledges the ongoing complexity. Ten years of marriage is a milestone worth celebrating, especialy when it's built on the foundation of honoring what came before while moving forward.
So beautifully written, Dorina. And thank you for including a wedding photo. It doesn’t seem possible it’s been a decade already for you and Shawn. And I love how you continue to honor Ericlee’s memory in your marriage and covenant of family life.
Thank you for sharing transparently about your grief into a glory story. In my family some of the “just-so-happened” events are my Oma coming to Switzerland to be a governess and meeting my Opa. Then my Dad was born during WW2. I think he was a bright spot in trying times. He later traveled to South America on a cruise and met a couple from America. The man sponsored people to work for a 2 year period. My Dad had a dream to work and live in America. After several years in PA, he was about to go back home, and then he met my Mom!
What glory. Some of our most outrageous prayers are for redemption of a dream destroyed. What grace He has woven through your lives..
The way you thread together the Ruth narrative with your own story is beautifl. That observation about Bethlehem being both the place where Ruth found redemption and where the Shepherd-King was born - that geographic connection really hits different when you think about how God works through specific places and moments in time.
What resonates most is your honesty about how joy and grief aren't sequential - they waltz together. So much writing about redemption tries to package it as a clean progression from darkness to light, but your framing acknowledges the ongoing complexity. Ten years of marriage is a milestone worth celebrating, especialy when it's built on the foundation of honoring what came before while moving forward.