Fifty Years Together
Wednesday, September 10th, 2003“Children’s children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children.” Proverbs 17:6
My Mom and Dad just celebrated 50 years of marriage. 50 years. The reception was held in Mom and Dad’s backyard, and we couldn’t have asked for better weather. (And yes, I asked for the weather we had!) Now, usually when this many of us get together, strange things happen. (See the entry titled ‘One Day Vacations’) I can’t say that this was the case on Sunday, but I did learn some things.
Most of you know that my Mom has Alzheimers, and that it has caused her to be confused and suspicious much of the time. We decided to hold the open house at their home because we thought it would be less confusing for her. That decision proved to be a good one. Mom had a wonderful time. My Dad has always enjoyed being around people, and he had a great time too.
For me, the whole thing was precious. More than a hundred people from the community came to wish my parents well. It blessed me to see how well thought of and loved they are by so many! People from the various churches that my Mom and Dad were members of all came together, so the Body of Christ was represented the way that it should be. Men and women that Mom and Dad have worked with over the years came to congratulate them. How blessed they are, and how blessed and proud am I to have them as parents. I know that not everyone has been so blessed, and I don’t take that for granted. That isn’t to say that there were not problems in the lives of my parents, but their lives are a testimony to the faithfulness of God.
You see, at one point, my Mom and Dad were divorced. That’s right. My family was broken by unfaithfulness. But God delights in using things that are broken to glorify His name. God brought my parents back together in a way that could only have been to His glory. Ask me about it sometime. The short story is that after a few months of being divorced, they came back together again. They planned to remarry, but hated the thought that there would forever be a gap in their lives together. (They had been married for 21 years when they divorced.) Enter the judge who issued the divorce decree. This dear man informed my parents that according to Indiana law, a divorce decree could be set aside as if the divorce never happened. And that is exactly what he did.
As Christians, we know that marriage is more than a legal contract. It is a covenant sealed before God. God doesn’t take covenants lightly, and neither should we. But thanks be to God, in His mercy He showed us that is possible to renew a covenant. I stood by my Mom as she and Dad renewed their marriage covenant before God, their children, and the pastor and his wife who had married them before.
All of this was in my mind and my heart on Sunday as I watched my Mom and Dad talk with their friends and family. My Dad bought my Mom a new wedding ring. This meant so very much to my Mom because she lost her original rings a few months ago. (Her Alzheimers has her convinced that her best friend Esther took her rings.) Mom was showing everyone who came her new ring. And Dad has been so precious to her as he stands by her “in sickness and in health” to care for her as best he can. He has truly become her faithful husband. One of the sweetest things that Dad said to me on Sunday was that it seemed like the first 25 years took a long time to pass, but that the last 25 passed in a heartbeat. I’m certain that he was right.
“Children’s children are a crown to the aged, AND PARENTS ARE THE PRIDE OF THEIR CHILDREN.” Proverbs 17:6
Mom and Dad, I’m proud of you.