Happy Anniversary, Mary!

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. (1 Corinthians 13:4-8 ESV).

Forty-nine years ago Mary and I exchanged our vows and were married. We were very young, but being just twenty, waiting was certainly more frightening than not. So, there we were, with family and friends gathered at the First Baptist Church of Bryan, Texas, two students at Texas A&M, about to start what would become a long and eventful adventure. It was really happening. We were committing "till death do us part." The picture I’ve chosen is our exchanging rings. As I have gone through the years that has been one of the most impactful things we did that day. You may have heard the story of how we met. In the summer of 1968, a friend of mine and I were cruising the A&W Drive-in hoping that we might find two girls that would be willing to join us for a burger and some rock and roll music. While that sounds like a fantasy, you must remember that in those days, in College Station, that would have been a great night. Attending A&M with only 300 girls on campus, and 8,000 guys, the odds weren’t in my favor! We did find two girls willing to join us and that night I knew she was the one. In fact, I told her so. The invitation was met with an unenthusiastic and emphatic “no way.” She said, “Marry me? I won’t even date you.” As I persisted over the next few months, slowly I began to go to church and Sunday School with she and her family and in March of 1969, I became a Christian. That changed everything. She confessed that she had loved me from that first encounter. Things moved rapidly from there and we were married in December of 1969. Our 49 years together have been years of both wonder and challenge. We have grown our family and now have three sons, two daughter-in-laws, and five grandchildren. We have experienced a variety of friendships, jobs, and homes. We have enjoyed one another. We have been frustrated with one another. We have agreed. We have disagreed. But through the ups and downs, we have been committed. We have been committed to love, to stay together, to work through conflict, to apologize, and to change as needed. Love never ends! That may not have been your experience. My encouragement is that you trust God in whatever circumstance you find yourself. The key is not in us; it is in the mutual devotional and faith we have in our God. I pray you will find that, too. I look forward to many more years with this little blond-haired girl willing to take a chance on me so many years ago. Happy Anniversary, Mary!