24,
Wrought iron. Knee high. Black. The two-wheeled bicycle plant stand caught my eye as my husband and I shopped the garden center offerings of our local supermarket. No chains. No brakes. Only two basket holders—one over the front wheel and one behind the tiny seat. Space enough for a bouquet of petunias or pansies. Perfect.
“Want one?” My husband examined the two-wheeler, turning it in his hands.
“Let me think about it.” I pointed to the grocery department. “I need a couple of things.”
When we returned to checkout, my husband reminded me again of the bike stand. “There aren’t many left. If you wait, they may all be gone.”
“I’d love one.”
In many ways, the bicycle built for two baskets represents our marriage. Two people navigating the same path together for nearly forty years. We’ve weathered the storms that have come our way, clinging to each other for strength and purpose. Without chains to pedal or brakes to stop us, we’ve walked through children challenges, family deaths, and financial crises of different proportions, emerging on the other side stronger and more committed to each other than before.
The Bible tells us that God created the world, the sun, moon and stars, the vegetation and the animals. His final creation was man. After each endeavor, God looked upon his handiwork and declared it good. But for man, he said. “ I will make for him a helpmate, for it is not good for man to be alone.”
He didn’t create another animal. Or another moon. He didn’t build another star or add another man. He made woman in man’s image.
God ordained men and women to form relationships together. To battle the circumstances life on this earth brings. “Therefore a man shall leave his mother and his father and cleave to his wife. And the two shall become one flesh.” Genesis 2:24, Matthew 19:5, and Mark 10:7 All three passages refer to this theme.
This post comes on our 39th anniversary. God intended for our relationship to grow and change, and it has. Just like sharing the responsibility for our garden has grown, our commitment to each other has followed the same path. I like to think that the blooms we produce every summer reflect the blossoms of our love.