Happy Anniversary!

Do you remember what you were doing 43 years ago today?  Well I do. At 9 a.m. that morning I walked into a classroom at Shorter College to take my final exam in “Old English Literature.” 

            I have to admit a couple of things. First, this was definitely not my favorite subject.  “Whan that aprille with his shoures soote?”  Yeah. That line is from the prologue to Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales.  Not my cup of tea.

            But it was even worse on this day. A final examination on December 21 is bad enough alone.  But my wedding rehearsal was at 6 p.m. that very same evening.  To say that I did poorly on that test would be an understatement.  When I returned to classes following Christmas break I learned that I managed a B- for the class thanks to the mercy of Dr. Wingard.  As she later said to me, “I thought you were a bit stressed that morning.”

            What an understatement!  Tina and I have had more than one laugh about what we did to family and friends during the Christmas season of 1979. Who gets married on December 22?  And if things weren’t bad enough, my grandmother was in intensive care in the hospital. She actually passed the day we returned from our honeymoon. 

            Well, tomorrow we celebrate our 43rd anniversary. There were those who said it wouldn’t last. We are quite different, coming from dissimilar backgrounds.  She’s a musician. I’m a jock.  She’s from the city.  I grew up in the country.  I could go on, but you get the picture. 

            What we have had in common, more than anything else, is an abiding faith in Christ and in each other.  We believe that God brought us together, and we made a commitment both to Him and to each other on that dreary winter day 43 years ago. 

            We have discovered that the Lord walks with His children and helps them along the way, through both tragedy and triumph. And we are determined to continue the journey of walking with Him wherever He leads. 

            That’s why Jesus came…to save us and lead us to become who He created us to be.  Merry Christmas to all of you. And to Tina – Happy Anniversary.  I’d do it all over again.