M&M meet and marry their M&Ms

I met Maressa during my first year of college. We lived across the hall from each other in the dorm and it took us a little less than two weeks to hit it off and find ourselves nearly inseparable...because it was just so much more fun to be together! And from that point on we were known as M&M or Marissy to most everyone else.

That year together was a blast. But when I think of Marissa what always first stands out is her love for the Lord and the things of the Lord. It was in this aspect that Marissa became much more than just a friend, she was a redemptive friend; that is, she was someone the Lord has used to greatly teach me and grow me in my own relationship with Him. A friend you can find anywhere, but a redemptive friendship is hard to come by.

Ecclesiastes 4: 9-12 says, "Two are better than one...for if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion...a cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart." This concept of redemptive relationships comes neither easy nor natural to me, a sinner who more often than not selfishly looks for friendships to my own gain and comfort. I want friendships, yet I steer away from complete honesty and truth to keep myself from being to vulnerable to another.

Paul David Tripp's book, How People Change, has had an incredible impact on my understanding of this intended purpose for relationships. He writes:
       "...meaningful relationships are often avoided. They require work, sacrifice, humility, and selflessness. While the idea of loving another person taps into something inherently human, it also exposes our sinful self-centeredness...At one level we want friendships. At another level we don't want them! In creation, we were made to live in community, but because of the fall, we tend to run from the very friendships we need. Quite often our longing for them is tainted by sin. We pursue them only as long as they satisfy our own desires and needs. We have a love-hate relationship with relationships! The Bible recognizes this profound tension, but still places our individual growth in grace in the context of the body of Christ...the work of redemption involves our individual relationship with Christ alongside our relationships with others." (pgs. 75-76) (see also: Romans 12: 1-8; 1 Corinthians 12; Ephesians 2:14-22; 4: 7-16; 1 Peter 4: 10-11)

I'm so thankful that the Lord brought Maressa into my life! But, this same redemptive purpose is not just for friendship relationships but is also and especially for marriage relationships...and a marriage is what initiated all the thoughts written in today's post. The last I time saw Maressa was 1 1/2 years ago when she came all the way from Brazil to celebrate my marriage to my M. Today is the celebration of her marriage to her M. Today Maressa Arevalo will become Mrs. Marcelo Crivella. I wish I could be there to celebrate with my Brazilian sister, but I am excited for her and for this new relationship that the Lord has brought into her life for His glory and His purposes! Congratulations Maressa and Marcelo Crivella!

Maressa and Marcelo Crivella