One of the great moments in my life was on August 9, 1992, when our son Elijah was born. Another amazing day was when he married Aimee, and we finally had a daughter. Then on March 3, 2021, they had Florence. Seeing our children’s children is one of the great joys in life.
What a bountiful blessing along with an equally enormous responsibility it is to have children. Yet even those of us who have none can (and need to!) help and support parents with this most important obligation: to teach their children about our heavenly Father.
Every time we would visit him, my grandfather would give us girls each a quarter to walk down to the nearby 7/11 and buy ourselves a Slurpee, a box of candy, and a comic book. My grandmother would berate him with a mild “Now don’t spoil their supper, Walter!” My Grandpa Walt was the kindest, most patient man I have ever met and I haven’t found his equal yet. The true love of his life was his dear wife, my Grandma Edna.
Since I was young, I dreamed of finding the “right” person to marry. I longed for someone to spend my life with—someone who would stand with me through the good times and the challenges. Like so many others, I wanted a spouse I could depend on. The key to realizing such a wonderful relationship is in its foundation, its center.
In Love and Marriage: As Christ Loved the Church, we saw that God’s plan for marriage as expressed in Ephesians 5:25 tells husbands specifically in the marriage relationship to love their own wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it.
We humans are often challenged to love one another and the adversary can often divide us because of our differences in race, nationality, religion, financial status, culture, physical appearance, or intellect. I believe that the biggest hurdle we have to overcome is the difference between the sexes.
I love our new home. Not only that it is off of “Conqueror Drive,” but that it shows how much my heavenly Father loves me.
Sherry and I got up this morning at 4 a.m. to see a NASA rocket head off for Mars.
I have a favorite saying (although it’s one that I often forget, especially in the heat of battle), “Whoever loves first, wins.” Now before I go any further with this, let me explain the ground rules of this competition. First of all, every Christian believer is to “walk in love” toward one another in the same way that Christ loved all of us.
How wonderfully our God shows the challenges and victories in marriage as we read the Book of Genesis. We learn that Adam and Eve forgave one another, Noah and his wife faithfully obeyed God’s command to save life on the earth, Abraham and Sarah believed God’s promise to have a son in whom all nations would be blessed, and Isaac and Rebekah walked with God to help their son, Jacob, overcome the hateful attacks of his brother Esau.
In Genesis Adam and Eve forgave one another, Noah and his wife faithfully obeyed God’s command to save life on the earth, and Abraham and Sarah believed God’s promise to have a son in whom all nations would be blessed. Here we will learn from another married couple, Isaac and Rebekah, and their walk with God when faced with challenging situations.