50 Years and Counting

David and I celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary February 7. Believe us when we say we wouldn’t have made it, and we weren’t making it, until we decided to do marriage God’s way.
If we have any advice to give couples it is “You have to have a vertical marriage first — both of you seeking and applying God’s word to your relationship on a regular basis.”
If you are not in church, start there. You need the Lord and there’s no better place to start than attending church. But go beyond attending on Saturdays or Sundays. Go to Bible studies, search out a Christian mentor couple, attend Christ-centered seminars/conferences, build community with others who are living out their faith.
So we hope you will dig a little deeper into the Word and strive to do marriage
God’s way. As Jimmy Evans recently stated, “A successful marriage requires a man and wife with God at the center.”
Grace and peace,
Penny and David

Cherish is the Word

David and I have a small group of couples we have been meeting with on a monthly basis for 22 years to work on our marriages. Our study this fall is Cherish by Gary Thomas. One of the things we did in our last session was to write down and discuss with our spouse what made us feel cherished. Cherish is different than love. While cherish may be different for each person, for the most part, I think it is those little acts that leave someone feeling adored, safe and worth the effort as pointed out in the book. I want to brag on my husband He has gone out of his way, since our last meeting, to do just that. And that in itself makes me feel cherished. How about you? What makes you feel cherished?

Little Things Mean A Lot

I once wrote an article entitled “Little Things Mean A Lot – A Whole Lot.”  I beleive this is as true today as it was when I wrote it several years ago.  That truth was recently reinforced for me.  My husband has had this terrible virus that is contagious so we have both been very careful about touching, drinking after one another, wiping down the phones and computers and taking other precautions.  A few things I’ve missed, however, are our good morning kiss, holding hands while praying and sleeping together at night.  It feels like a wedge in our relationship.  He is on the mend, so I hope we can get back to our little rituals. Afterall, those little things mean a lot – a whole lot.