'Til Death Do Us Part

Last night there was a wedding at our church. It was not the first marriage for either the bride or the groom. This is not a judgment on them or on anybody that has been through the tragedy of divorce...just John thinking out loud (so to speak).

In the morning service, we heard of four couples that celebrated anniversaries this past week. A young couple--their seventh, and the twelfth for another couple. Then came an older couple celebrating number 50 (sorry guys, but if you're celebrating number 50, you're an older couple!) followed by friends celebrating number 62!

Wow! 50 years together! 62 years together!

What is it that allows one couple to remain faithful for all that time--to continue to love one another and stick it out through the hard times, and others to set aside their lifetime promise? I'm not wondering about why people get divorced--those reasons are often obvious. I'm wondering why (or how) people stay married. Is it as simple as keeping a promise? Is it as simple as loving and forgiving mistakes? 62 years--there had to be many times that this couple could have given up on each other and society would have shaken its head and went on without a second thought.

I wish that I could say that it's because they are committed Christians (they are), but we've all known committed Christians that get divorced--even ordained ministers. Is it just that that generation had different moral standards? Maybe, but divorce in nothing new (we find it in the Bible). I wish that somebody would share the secret of a successful lifelong marriage. I know that it can't be simple...or easy. If it was, we would all have long successful marriages.

Chris and I are at 28+ years...a far cry from 62. If you have a comment to help us make it the distance, please share it.

To the Langstons (50) and the Georges (62)--I tip my cyber hat to you! Congratulations to the four of you and my God grant you many more years together!

John <><