There are days when simply making it to nightfall feels like a quiet triumph. Days when I find myself at the edge of exhaustion—worn down by the constant demands of caring for my husband whose world is slowly unravelling. As his dementia deepens, so too do the challenges. And yet, in the quietest, most difficult moments, the vows I once spoke— for better or worse, in sickness and in health — don’t fade into memory. They rise within me, steady and clear, asking to be lived out once more.
I don’t always have the strength. Truthfully, there are moments I want to stop, to step away from the weight of it all. But I never truly can, because something greater keeps lifting me.
That something is God. It is not my own willpower that keeps me going—it is grace. God meets me at the edge of my endurance and gently carries me further. When I’m overwhelmed and feel as though I can’t take another step, He becomes my strength. When I am lost in the fog of weariness and worry, He reminds me that I am not walking alone.
I’ve always known, deep down, that I’m not here just for myself. That life was never meant to be lived only inward. Love — especially the kind that stays through hardship — asks me to give, to bend, to hold on. It’s not about grand gestures. It’s in the quiet, daily choosing to show up. And sometimes, when I’m sitting with the weight of it all, I think of that verse—”Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for a friend.” Not as something I strive for, but as something I’ve come to live in my own quiet way.
These vows I honour are no longer just about marriage—they have become a sacred calling. Each day I choose to love, not out of obligation, but because of the grace I receive. I cry, I stumble, I grow tired. But then something quiet rises within me again: a stillness, a strength, a whisper from God that says, “You are not alone.”
And so I carry on. Not because I always feel strong. But because I believe—deeply, humbly—that God walks with me. He holds me up when I can no longer stand. God is beside me, every step of the way.
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