On December 21 last year, Eric and Marcia Bryan celebrated 26 years of marriage, and their journey has been filled with love, challenges, and heartache.
The one thing that has kept the union going is their individual love and commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Reflecting, they both agree that if it hadn’t been for God’s guidance, they would have crumbled or gone insane as a couple.
HOPE DEFERRED
In the early days of their marriage, like any other, it was their great hope to enrich their union with children. And for a short time, when Marcia told them she was pregnant, they were happy about the idea of a new family member, but their hopes were dashed when she had a miscarriage.
Eric, reminiscing on those days, can recall how helpless he felt when he looked into his wife’s eyes and saw the pain, knowing that he was feeling the same thing, too. Even with all the consolation from church brethren, that could not take away how empty they felt.
“It’s a good thing we were strong on faith. It is not an easy thing to have your hopes and expectations dashed like that. I recall one day while driving to the hospital after my wife suffered another miscarriage, I saw an oncoming truck, and I was feeling so low, I thought briefly about running into it,” Eric confessed.
“There were days when I was down, but I had to put that aside and try to cheer him up. Because whatever I was going through, I know he was feeling the same thing,” Marcia told Freedom Come Rain.
THEN CAME VICTORY
Finally, their victory came when their daughter Antonia made her entrance into the world on January 27, 2012.
Marcia, laughing, said she gave new meaning to the phrase “overly protective” as she reflected on their journey to becoming parents.
From Left: Eric, Antonia, Anthony, and Marcia
TOUCH AND GO AGAIN
A few years later, they were in for another surprise as their son Anthony was born—but not without the usual drama that seems to accompany them in their lives. It was “touch and go” at the May Pen Hospital as doctors had just given him a 20 percent chance to survive.
Re-living that moment in their lives, Eric shared that when Anthony was born, the doctor asked his wife if she could pray before delivering the low odds re his survival.
“When I heard that, I knew it was going to be a war, so I went straight to the baby nursery, where he was admitted with needles all over. I stood there looking at him and praying quietly over and over, they told me I couldn’t go there, and when I was there, they told me to leave. I knew this was spiritual, I refused to leave, and no one could stop me from entering,” he recapped.
Anthony Bryan … given 20 percent chance of survival
SNEEZED AGAIN
Early one morning, Eric said he was praying for his son, as his lungs hadn’t developed. He asked the Lord to touch his lungs and give him complete healing, and immediately his son sneezed!
“All the nurses turned and looked at me. I stood my ground and said, if this is your doing, Lord, let him sneeze again and he sneezed again. Now it was time for the nurses to clean, and I stood there, not moving. One Mexican nurse came to me and asked, “You are the father?” When I said ‘Yes’,” she told me to hold the baby while she cleaned the bed.
This was all I needed: as soon as she put the baby in my hands, I immediately lifted him up towards heaven and said, “I lift up my eyes unto the hills, from where my help cometh. I declare a complete healing for this boy now,” Eric said movingly. He shared that his son started kicking and popping off every needle.
The nurse ended up taking his son and putting him back in the crib, instructing him to call his wife.
Eric notes that when she arrived, she was instructed by the nurse to hold the baby; and for him, nothing could equal the joy he felt seeing his son held in his mother’s arms and breastfed—he was completely healed. The next day, he was discharged from the hospital.
God provided once more, as their son is now an active, healthy fifth-grade student.
HE LIFTS ME UP ON MY DOWN DAYS
Eric reflected on their nearly 30-year marriage, saying the first time he saw Marcia was at his parents’ home in Mocho, Clarendon.
“She is my sister’s (Rose’s) good friend; I’m always checking up on my mother, and she always talks about me, so Marcia overheard the conversation most of the time and was impressed—she thinks this guy is the best,” he jokes.
Commenting on the qualities she likes about him, Marcia said he is a born joker, she doesn’t have time to be bored, and he knows just how to make her laugh her down days away.
Marcia, who is the children’s Sunday School director at their church, and Eric, who plays the keyboard, is the men’s director as well as the choir director. He has a voice that sets the tone for praise and worship.
The two ensure their children learn from an early age the importance of serving the Lord. As they say, the important thing is, even if they stray, the foundation will still be there.
Reaching out to other couples, the pair highlights that the most important thing to keep a union going is to have strong communication and trust each other.
They will be the first to acknowledge that no union comes without disagreements, but that when one pops up its ugly head, they don’t allow it to have the upper hand.
“We talk things through, because at the end of the day, we are not just a couple, we are children of God,” Eric concludes.