I have found myself having very interesting encounters with the mirror as of lately. The past few months of marriage preparation have taken me to and through some great emotional hurdles.
In the process, I (Devin) began to do an immense amount of soul searching and due to the quantity of unresolved emotional conflicts from my childhood and on, I made a conscious decision to seek some serious healing. The last thing I desired to do was to carry a plethora of baggage with me into my new marriage. In order to heal from some of these wounds, which felt so ancient, I had to go back to that place of origin. I had to re-visit and embrace the hurting child within this now 25-year old exterior.
Now experiencing the healing and transformation that I have, the biggest adjustment has been to exchange the perspective from which I see myself: from that hurt little boy to the healing man that I am today.
The potency of that reality became so evident to me in a beautiful revelation the morning of November 15th, 2013. I stood in front of a mirror, all alone in my house, and froze in awe of what I saw. For years, I saw a mere boy who clothed himself in his childhood experiences, memories, scars, triumphs, and adversities. That, however, was not what I saw that morning. What I saw then was a man who had healed from and let go of the past that once paralyzed him, a transformation. I saw a man that was ready for what was ahead of him without fear.
I saw a man that was now, through the healing power of prayer and wise counsel, ready to start his own family.
Just hours before I was to take the hand of my bride, I was overwhelmed with joy and dumbfounded that I was about to embark on one of the most monumental endeavors of my entire life.
It blew my mind to ponder on what I had been in contrast to where I was headed. I was about to take on the responsibility of being a husband and a father, two roles I could not have prepared myself for by my own power and strength.
I can honestly say that I would not be the man I am today without the discipline acquired from the opportunity to be the leader of what is now my family.
As we observed Thanksgiving Day this past week, I can’t help but acknowledge all of the beautiful blessings that have been bestowed upon my family as of recently. I want to extend my sincere gratitude to anyone who has played even the slightest fraction in my wife and I’s love story, be it support, encouragement, or counsel. It’s unbelievable the amount of support we have received throughout this whole process and continue to receive.
Your love and adoration is not taken lightly and we hope that you are blessed to an even greater magnitude than you have already blessed us.
