Reflecting on 50 Years of Marriage

This weekend Barb and I are celebrating fifty years of marriage.  Our actual anniversary is June 14 but to accommodate family schedules we are celebrating the weekend before.  We are blessed to have so many friends and family members from various parts of the country join us for the festivities.  

In January of 1967 my life was in shambles.  A month earlier a long-term relationship with my high school sweetheart had come to an end.  I was also struggling academically.  My grade point average was so low there was a good possibility I would not be allowed to return from my junior year in college.  The “Great Snow Storm of 67” led to a turning point in my life.  Classes were cancelled but the student leaders seized the opportunity to plan the first on-campus dance in the history of the college.  I was living in an apartment off-campus but found a way to walk the two miles so I could attend the dance.  At the end of the evening my buddies informed me they were escorting a group of girls to their off-campus homes.  Everyone had paired off but there was on one to walk with Barbara Brown.  Little did I know how my life was about to change. 

Barb became my helpmate almost immediately.  She was an honor student and she was not going to allow me to fail.  Study dates became part of our routine.  She also offered to proof-read any major paper I wrote.  By the time we graduated my GPA was high enough to get me into graduate school and I had even made the Dean’s list.  We both graduated on Memorial Day Weekend in 1969 and were married three weeks later.  On July 1^st we began our ministry together at Trinity Lutheran Church in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.  Our ministry would take us back to the Chicago area for sixteen years and eventually to Texas. I had a career in youth ministry and Barb found a way to use her musical talents.  Along the way we were blessed to have three children and create lots of memories. 

Marriage is a life-long commitment.  Even our marriage has had its ups and downs but we remain dedicated to each other.  My prayer is that others might see that in our relationship.  The commitment that Christian couples have to each other might be the strongest testimony we can give to a world that often does not share our perspective; God’s plan is for one man and one woman to be joined together in a life-long journey.