Our Day!

I got up early this morning and have had a full heart thinking back over the 37 years that Paulette and I have been married. We were married on the evening of January 5th, at 6:30 p.m. at Eagle Creek Evangelical Friends Church. During the ceremony, I sang the song "Hawiian Wedding Song" to Paulette and at the end, she answered me in song as well as the Church Bell rang in the background. Our reception was held at the Sheridan Community Center and following that, we took off to a "paid for" Honeymoom suite at the Executive Inn in Louisville, Ky. That was the coldest room I've ever stayed in! The bed was round and we both found it difficult to sleep. Partly because we were so tired from the wedding! We took off the next morning and headed to Florida where we stayed for a week in 70 degree weather. It was so nice! I remember how we decided to get up early one morning and go to the beach to look for shells that had washed up through the night. It was still dark, but we sat in the car and waited for the break of day to start our venture. Suddenly, a flashlight shone in our window and it was the police pecking on the window and wondering what mischief we were up to. We explained why we were there and after a look of disbelief, he left us alone. I think we found one shell that morning!

We came home to our first home which was a mobile home I had rented situated on the property where we now live! The people who lived in the house where we live now is now my step mother, Peggy. They had just built this house in 1969 and the mobile home was put there for her mother. Her mother married and moved away, so I was able to rent it for $75.00 a month! After 37 years, we have lived in 13 houses and who would have known back then that we would one day be living on the same property where we started housekeeping!

God has blessed our marriage over the years. We have had some storms, losing 5 babies before birth, but God saw to it that we could finally raise two wonderful children who we love with all our heart. There have been times of sickness, health, richer and poorer - just like the vows say, be we have stood firm through it all.

It's funny how things change as you get older. I used to look forward to taking Paulette out for a nice evening dinner on our Anniversary, but today we find ourselves stuck at home waiting on the FedEx truck to arrive with my medication, then rather than a steak dinner - we will be joining our Church Family for a wonderful meal of meatloaf, turkey casserole, mashed potatoes, salad, and dessert! What could be better!

I just wanted to write down my little memory lane this morning as I look back over the years and pray that God will allow us to continue on for many years to come. Our life isn't perfect by any means, but we can still laugh, love, and work through anything that comes our way. As I preached about Sunday - we don't know what "Jordans" we will have to cross in this next year, but God has never let us down yet in finding a way to cross and I don't suppose He will let us down now.

For those of you who struggle in your marriage, just remember that life can be a bed of roses, but you will run into a thorn now and then that brings you back to reality. Don't let the thorns keep you from striving to keep loving and working through it no matter what comes in your path. So many people just give up and don't even want to try. If we had that attitude in our early years, we would have divorced long ago! But, when we married, it was for life. I think that's the message young people don't get these days.

Well, I've bored you all long enough. Just had to reflect this morning somewhere, and thought this was a good place to do it.

See you all tonight at Bible Study!

Pastor Bob