50 Great Years!

So much to smile about

50 years sounds like a long time.  A half century sounds even longer.  But to me, the past 50 years of married life have gone by so quickly.  And I would not trade them for anything.  Dianne and I were brought together by the Lord who has guided us with His faithfulness and presence.  We may be unusual because in 50 years we have never had a major disagreement or fight.  On our honeymoon the Lord gave us Psalm 92:13, "Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God."  We have tried to follow those words for 50 years and we rejoice in God's goodness.  Now how do you describe 50 years?  Well let me make an attempt by listing 50 things for which I am especially thankful.  1-3  are Craig, Ken and Tim, our three sons.  They love and serve the Lord and are great fathers.  What more could we want?   4-6 are Kisha, Sandy and Wendy, our three daughter-in-laws.  We love them like daughters and thank God for them.  7-13 are Zach, Josh, Taylor, Noah, Chloe, Lexie and Brodie, our seven grandchildren.  All have asked the Lord to be their Savior.  14 -17 would be our parents.  All four loved the Lord and modeled Him to us.  All four are now with Him in heaven. 18 would be our extended family.  We have been blessed with grandparents, uncles and aunts, brothers and sisters, in-laws, cousins and nephews and nieces who love the Lord.  19.  Friends - we have been blessed with numerous friends who have enriched our married life over 50 years.  Many of them are now in heaven.  20-23 would by the four homes that we have lived in.  Each were special provisions with special stories about them. The present one has now been our home for almost 42 years.  24-25 Two estates settled, at the same time.  I'm not sure that I ever want to be an executor again but we learned much and saw so many special answers to prayer during that time.  26 - My special job as a teacher/administrator for 39 years.  Few people can stay that long at one place and say that they enjoyed it all.  It was God's special provision to us and a definite answer to prayer when I had to choose from four job offers nearly 50 years ago.  27 - Many part-time jobs over the years that supplemented a teacher's salary and enabled Dianne to stay at home and be a full-time mother.  These included writing questions for Educational Testing Service, teaching adult ed, doing homebound instruction, coaching, working for the Sunday News for 25 years, Books In Print editorial staff. chief statistician for PIAA basketball play-offs for 25 years, Cherry Hill Orchards, software prep for ISC, consultant for an Addison Wesley geometry textbook and working with my wife for the Lancaster County Election Bureau for ten years.  28 - The opportunity for us to travel and visit 25 major cities in the U.S. and Canada as part of my job responsibilities.  This included speaking at five major national conventions.  29 - Having a family ministry for 25 years including and presenting almost 100 programs a year.  We won't know until heaven how many families were touched by the Lord, but we do know that it taught our boys many lessons and developed in them special strengths and skills which they use today.  30 - Over 40 years of ministry at Pinebrook working with children and music.  For most of those years it was a ministry in the summer but for the last ten it has been with hymn sings and retreats throughout the year.  31 - Multiple opportunities to serve, often side-by-side, for 50 years in our church.  This has included Sunday School (teachers, department leader, superintendent), music (piano, organ, solos, duets, choir, administration, Christmas Eve program leadership), adult Bible studies, elder and committees, prayer chain coordinators.  32 - Awana.  What can I say about the opportunity to lead for 30 years, to minister to children, and to provide training for adults.  Together we have now completed all three levels of Awana college training in Hershey, Pittsburgh and Chicago.  These years with this great program have been very special.  33 - 50 represent 18 operations and procedures under anesthesia.  They include numerous biopsies, only one of which has shown cancer.  In addition there have been many dozens of other tests.  But through all of this we thank God for the health and life that He has given us.  We don't know what lies ahead, but God is faithful and He goes before us.  So there are 50.  I could easily list another 50.  We just say, thank you Lord for 50 great years together.  Our desire is to continue to live for Him and to serve Him here on earth as long as He gives us the health and strength to do so.  And, by the way, 50 years goes faster than you can imagine.  So use your today to live for Him.