It had become a place I could not leave alone, nor my quiet talks with her, nor the good coffee in the candlelight.”
–Louis L’Amour (The First Fast Draw)
“A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies.”
–Proverbs 31:10 (NIV)
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“And her hand was soft and trembly
That night underneath the tree,
When I couldn’t help but tell her
She was ‘all the world to me.'”
–Charles “Badger” Clark
Actually it was closer to midnight in the rain on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. It was time, so I pulled over to a turnout on the road and there, sitting beside this wondrous gal, not on my knee, mind you, I asked the most important question of my life: Will you marry me? I was pretty sure of the answer, but one never knows. I believed God was in it with me, as I received an affirmative answer. Before I go on, I want to give you a little side-note, nothing of real pertience, but interesting. Annie and I were married on the 11th, she was 22, this is our 55th anniversary, she is now 77. See all the double figures? No meaning, just fun to observe.
The words of Proverbs 18:22, “He who finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor from the LORD.” (NKJV) I like the CEV translation of this verse, “A man’s greatest treasure is his wife–she is a gift from the LORD.” For sure He gave me a treasure that I could be with throughout my life. In the good times, she was there, in the hard times I could count on her. What a treasure, what a gift from God! Here we are now in the fifty-fifth year of marriage. Gone is our youth and vitality, but there is a stronger, firmer love that has grown through the years.
I remember we started dating back in February of 1970. If I remember right (and I do), there were only three days we weren’t together throughout that semester of college. Then I had to head home, to work so I could come back the following semester. Annie stayed for summer school. Now mind you, this was in the primitive days before cell phones. I’m not sure how many times we talked on the phone over the summer, maybe two or three times, but we wrote nearly every day. Letters, you know… We met in Wadsworth, Ohio, for a wedding in August, and it was when I was taking her home from that wedding that I proposed.
Fortunate? Well I guess. A God-send for certain. It had to be God to know what I needed in life and He truly blessed me with a mate to see me/us through. Plus, she can make a pie. How many campfires we’ve shared, how many cups of coffee have we had together, how many miles have we traveled along life’s journey? Two children, who love the Lord, four grandchildren who love the Lord–see I’m a wealthy man.
Now, I hesitated to write personal things for my morning devotions, but I was reading a short devotion by James Merritt which he said, Share with at least one person this week what the Lord has done for you. I reckoned that was confirmation. Psalm 37:25, for sure is true when it says, “I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.” (NIV) God is good! He has always seen us through the good and bad times. He has always provided for us, given us what we needed, and kept us safe and secure in our journey of life. As Annie has been with me in sickness and in health, so has the Lord. The nearness of her was a comfort in hard times, but even more so, I knew the Lord was near. I am so thankful that I was taught to trust in Him at a very young age; to realize that He is in control, that nothing happens to me that hasn’t passed by Him.
Fifty-five years (fifty-six if you counted dating) with my wife–Wow, what a treasure. Now, sixty-seven years with the Lord–Wow, what a Friend, Savior, and Guide. Don’t know how many are left, but each one will be a blessing.