29 Years of Grace

Posted by Scott Shoopman on Aug 11, 2010 | 3 comments

It still amazes me. I guess because I know me, the real me, the self-centered me. But after 29 years, I think she probably knows me too. Marianne Rudy Shoopman – my wife, my partner, my helpmate, my completer, my best friend, my lover, my children’s mother, and Charlotte’s “Nan”!!

29 years ago this Sunday we were married in a church without air conditioning in a summer much like the one we are experiencing this year – it was HOT! Our  marriage ceremony was a full mass, not a simple 15 minute affair. We  had a great time at our reception, forgot our suitcases and had to turn around after we left, stopped at a Shoney’s to eat on our way out of town and then headed to my grandparents homes in Oklahoma for our “honeymoon!”

Our marriage has been filled with ups and downs, with me causing most of the downs. Marianne has followed me all over the country, packing and unpacking, mothering our children who were to move to another town and another school – again. She followed me here, not wanting to leave our last church, friends, jobs, home, etc. to help  start The Bridge. BUT, she followed. And when times were not “better” but had gotten “worse” – she never even hinted at a complaint. Grace.

My wife loves me. I don’t always  understand why, but I always know she does. Grace.

I work part-time now at a warehouse  in Franklin for World Vision and during devotions(with some really young people – in comparison to me!) the topic moved to “unconditional love”. Someone posed a question to the group almost rhetorically, “are we really capable of unconditional love?” After some silence, I answered  something to the effect of, the closest we will ever get is the love we have for our children. I would like to amend that statement – I think my wife has blessed me with unconditional love for 29 years and because of her example, I can get a little closer to loving others unconditionally.