I’m
not sure I can even count to 45, much less divulge any deep dark secrets of
lasting 45 years in the same relationship.
I tried to remember the names of all the dogs we have had over those
years. From Gideon to Freddy. We are not cat people. But we did have a bird when we first got
married. Parakeet. We named him Noah because he knocked over his
water trough and caused a flood. I can
remember the names of our kids pretty well.
Kel and Nathan and that other one … the one in the middle. Oh, yeah, Josh. Pretty good kids. Glad we kept them around. And then they all got married. Nice choices all the way around. Christina and Christi. It was all very confusing with all the
“Chris” action. Nathan vowed never to
date a girl with that particular syllable anywhere in her name. True to his word he found an April. Those three young ladies began the process of
teaching us how to do girls. Well,
OK. Read here “teaching me.”
And
then came the joy of joys, those wonderfully quirky creations called
grandchildren. Now I have to remember
ten more names. Let’s see … Jachin and
Zak and Micah and Caleb and Cailyn and Josiah and Noa and Luke and Ezra and
AnnaGrace. Is that ten? Fortunately I still have a paper calendar
that reminds me when birthdays occur.
Well, I also have a walking, talking calendar called Chris who can
remember dates and names and even how much they all weighed when they were
born. Did I mention that she is amazing?
This
lovely lady stuck with me through four or five neck surgeries (I always lose
count), a chronically bad back, as well as a new knee installation. She stuck around through Southwest Houston,
Northwest Houston, inner city Houston, Fort Worth, Mansfield, Denver, and
Galveston. We lived through an apartment
fire and had to start all over again after Hurricane Ike. For someone who was warned against “those ministerial
students” when she left for college, she blossomed into an incredible ministry
partner and eventually an actual pastor’s wife for the last 25 years (in
August).
We
managed to get in our 45th anniversary cruise to the Panama Canal
shortly after her “Big” birthday cruise to Alaska. Sounds like we are cruising pros, doesn’t it? Well, those two are the extent of our travels
on the water, but we are aficionados at land travel. Our “day trips” that tend to extend into “week
trips” have become legend, especially the ones where we know an ultimate
destination, but go out of our way to experience fun sights along the way that
surprise us. In fact we can’t wait for the
Corona restrictions to ease in other states.
We have a trip to North Dakota sitting in our back pocket, just raring
to be released. And the Grand
Canyon. And Pennsylvania. And … Hawaii.
I
guess I plan to stick around in this marriage thing for the duration. Love is a hard habit to break. Guess that’s by design of the Designer …
Proverbs
31:1 says, “A wife of noble character who
can find? She is worth far more than
rubies.”
Father,
thank you for my young, Spring chicken bride.
I love her. You did good. Really, really good. Amen.
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