He who finds a wife finds what is good,
gaining favor from the Lord. (Prov. 18:22, CEB)

I have been at my current church for 14 years. It has been a wonderful journey. I have believed in longevity as a pastor. I about have that down, so I better be learning all that other stuff now!

My wife and I celebrated 24 years of marriage yesterday. As we talked about life we realized there are some FUN things about being together so long. We blurt out the same thought almost at the same time a lot. We think of the same movie line, or some quote, and even if we don’t both say it, we both know we thought it.

There are so many things that are comfortable for us. It’s not a rut. It’s comfort. We are planning ahead to our 25th Anniversary, and it is interesting to think about being able to do something a bit more spontaneous simply because the boys will be all grown and almost out of the house. It’s a good place in life.

For all the talk of “gay marriage,” the Church has lost its voice on heterosexual marriage because we quit preaching on divorce a long time ago. Our mistake back then was probably preaching against divorce rather than FOR marriage. We didn’t instill covenant language. We didn’t instill the beauty of the long haul, or lift it up.

Our big date last night to celebrate our anniversary was a trip to the ball game. My wife REALLY loves me to do that for me! On the big scoreboards they had a video of a couple who were at the ballpark celebrating their sixtieth anniversary. The whole ballpark erupted in cheers when they saw the scoreboards. THAT is worth celebrating.

I am FOR marriage. I am for God’s best in marriage. I am for the long haul. And I am so deeply grateful for the partner God has given me for this incredible journey.

(NOTE: the picture below is NOT me and my wife!)   😉