USA – Therefore since you are surrounded by such a cloud of witnesses, April 17, 2021

Our Lord Jesus Christ taught us that at the beginning of creation God:

Some of us remember saying these words to the person we believed in our heart was to be our life partner.

“I take you, to have and to hold, from this day forward,

for better or for worse, for richer or poorer,

in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish,

until we are parted by death,

as God is my witness,

I give you my promise.”

These are the hopeful words of our covenant relationship, but like any hope they are only proven when they are tested. We were blessed to share a lunch with eight other couples that have walked their journey of faith in God and each other through 310 years of marriage.

Together we reflect, about every joy and difficulty that any couple will encounter and even though many times the difficulties were attributed to our own poor choices, individually or corporately, we persevere through the grace of God.

Failures, individually and corporately, to live out those words 100% are not an option, they are a reality. But, we have learned that failure in itself is not fatal.

The only thing that is “fatal” is quitting.

The one truth that we have learned in walking with couples like this can be summed up by having seen that the fruit that has been produced by their living came from love and service to God and others.