When I posted this picture of Randy and me on Facebook a few months ago, an old Air Force friend commented, “Randy, you look like a guy who’s won life’s lottery!” I laughed to myself, thinking of the long, slow 
work of God that brought us to this time. Those beaming smiles reflect how we feel about each other. Really! No forcing those smiles for the camera.
We had traveled to the East Coast for our nephew’s wedding in September. This picture was taken in the quaint hotel lobby just before we left for the festivities. The wedding was a glorious celebration. The bride and groom’s smiles radiated their love as they repeated vows to be there through good times and not-so-good times. Weddings can allow time for reflection for those of us who have walked the road for a while. For us, it’s been more than a half century! How is that possible? It seems like it wasn’t that long ago when we stood at the altar and promised to love each other for a lifetime. If only we had the wisdom of 50+ plus years of marriage when we first started out. Life might have been so much easier!
Of course, we know that’s impossible. I’ve come to realize it’s the actual years of walking (slogging?) along together that make or break us. Kim Henderson, a journalist for World Magazine, wrote a recent editorial about marriage, A Covenant Kept. She had stumbled upon an old marriage license (from 1914) while she shopped for frames at an antique mall. The framed license piqued her interest. She snapped a picture of it–and then followed her journalist inquisitiveness to a story of the couple whose names the license bore.
She didn’t find anything out of the ordinary–but the solid commitment of a husband and wife. No divorces in their family tree. Probably when this couple married, they couldn’t have imagined a time when nearly half of all marriages fail.
Maybe that’s why fading cursive on yellowed paper in an old 11×14 frame stopped me in my tracks. A covenant kept speaks. It preaches, too, admonishing us to admit there’s a bigger picture and an eternal perspective to consider.
As I thought more about it, it occurred to me that no, we didn’t win life’s lottery. We had simply made a choice to love each other well–even through all the hard times (of which we’ve had plenty), times when we almost threw in the towel and called it quits. I’m thankful we didn’t. After 52 years of marriage, we can savor the blessings of the slow work of God. Now there’s something we can give thanks for!
I’ve just started a Facebook group, Marriage Matters: Encouragement and Hope for Women in “Not-So-Perfect Marriages.” You can join me here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1772465599761460
