Today, April 4, 2016, is our 41st wedding anniversary. Yes, April 4, 1975 the most gracious and gorgeous woman I’ve ever met – quite amazingly – said “I do” and we started a life adventure following our Lord together.
There’s no way we could have known then that He would lead us out of the military, into ministry, into missions, to Guatemala, Central America and later to found a mission agency that would enable literally thousands of others to follow Him on a similar adventure.
We couldn’t have guessed back then that along the way He would send us three wonderful children to accompany us on the journey and who would grow up to also love and passionately serve Him.
Yes, there were times we understood why some animals eat their young. There were times we had no idea what to do as parents and did the only thing we could do – cried out to God and held on for the ride.
There were times our marriage was a wreck. We were far too young and immature to have gotten married but we made our vows first to God and then to one another. So, again, we did the only thing we could do – cried out to God and held on for the ride.
Then the Lord provided three amazing spouses for our kids. There were a couple of false starts along the way and some scary moments for us as parents but they all waited patiently on the Lord and He sent incredible partners to walk with them on their journeys into His unknown plans for them.
We’ve had lots of rough patches. Who hasn’t? But we’re so glad we stayed faithful to one another through those times and clung to the Lord. We certainly didn’t do it perfectly – far, far from it. We have definitely been blessed far above anything we could have ever even asked for, let alone above what we deserve.
And just when we thought it couldn’t get any better we discovered the joy of grandchildren. And yes, we agree, “If we’d known how great grandkids are we would have had them first.”
But this isn’t just about us. It’s our hope that we can pass on some of the things we’ve learned through the pain and the joy. So you can avoid some of the mistakes we made
We need to learn from the mistakes of others because none of us will live long enough to make them all ourselves – and it’s far too painful to learn it that way.
Thanks for being part of our journey through this blog. Thanks for your words of encouragement and support.
If you’d like to send a greeting to Jana – unlike me she likes that stuff – you can Facebook message her: HERE
Please forgive me for this very personal post but I hope that even in this one you can see that the rewards of following God’s methods of marriage, parenting and life are well worth it. Like us, you won’t do it perfectly. He doesn’t expect that – so stop expecting it of yourself.
Just do what you can – forgive a lot, love a lot, keep your heart soft and your spirit pure by confessing a lot.
Trust in the LORD with all your heart; and don’t lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths. Don’t be wise in your own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.
Proverbs 3:5-7
Stay on the path that the LORD your God has commanded you to follow. Then you will live long and prosperous lives in the land you are about to enter and occupy.
Deuteronomy 5:33
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