A lot of loving...

I am so happy and proud to wish my parents all the best as they celebrate and mark their 40th wedding annivesary today. Theirs is a wonderful love story...they met and married in a matter of 3 months, back in 1967. My mom was 18 years young and my dad just 24. They have been together through thick and thin- from living on and owning a dairy farm in central Minnesota, to raising 5 kids and moving throughout the state over the years. From Bible college to pastoring churches and now assisting and caring for hundreds of residents in the Twin Cities, they have lived and worked together more closely than almost any other couple I know. Somehow they not only enjoy working together, but they compliment one another and seem to grow more in love and tolerant with each other as the years go by. That, I believe, is the key to the success and beauty of their marriage.
They would be the first to tell you it has not been all rosy and bliss through the years. But as you would suspect, they would probably say that the trials and hardships have helped them depend on each other and more importantly, they have relied on God in the good times and the bad.
Their marriage and relationship has been a wondeful model to me and to those who are forunate to know them and spend time with them. I wish them both more years of this love that they share. Not only with each other...but love that flows out of them into all apects of their lives. My kids have been on the receiving end of it many times too. They send all their love and wishes for years of love and happiness.
Thank you for being so selfless to one another and to so many you have touched all through the years. I consider you both to be one of the greatest blessings in my life. I think the world of you both. Your love and lives inspire me and others. Happy 40th annivesary.