Cactus Flower

  That was us in 1986 or so, a year before we got married. Young, very much in love, with little idea of what the future held. Oh, we had plans -- to be missionaries in Brazil! And that goal, that call divine has kept us going  and held us together through thick and thin. Thank you, God, for today and for another year of marriage! 1987 - 2022 35 years! Older and still in love!

Last week Byron and I celebrated our wedding anniversary without a lot of fanfare.  No roadside billboards this year!  No kids at home to leave behind for a date night.  Just us.   On the actual day, Thursday, May 30, I was feeling super under the weather.  Somewhere I picked up a bad sore throat bug. But I drug myself out of my sick bed to head off to the big city for a happy lunch at the mall with Byron and our bestest pals, Jonas and Andressa.   We enjoyed a walk around the airconditioned mall and did a little big town shopping before heading home to eat a frozen pizza (warmed up, of course) and renting a YouTube movie for the occasion.   Marriage isn't all honeymoon, fancy dates and extravagant vacations.  It's all about the little things that make you happy to be together and content.  I'm glad for a man that surprises me from time to time with wild and crazy events, but who also knows how to stay at home and just del...

Piedmont Bible College, 1985 Do you know what attracted me to you when I found myself sitting near you in chapel at Piedmont Bible College all those years ago?  You had a certain style all your own and that quirky, pun filled humor.  I thought you were a good-looking guy especially riding on that motorcycle you had.  I thought you had cute hair, and your ideas for dates were always so cool - circuses and picnics in the mountains.  And you were going where I wanted to go - the mission field. We weren't really all that much alike in some ways.  You were Southern Gospel and I was more like Christian Rock.  You had high standards and I was always pushing the rules to the limit.  Opposites might attract, but something called love drew me to start listening to your music and try to live within the scheme of things.   I guess you grew on me. May 30, 1987 We didn't always see eye to eye and still don't, but we learned, often by the hard ...

Called to Stay + Called Together =  Called to Stay Together  Today marks 28 years of marriage to the man of my life.  Ours has been a missionary marriage since day #1.  When we started dating, while both in Bible college, Byron let me know of his missionary call to the country of Brazil.  It was to let me know - Date me, might marry me, will go to Brazil. I took it seriously as I had felt called to missions at a young age.  In 1985, I traveled to Brazil with Byron to see if it and he were for me.  I remember thinking after the trip that I really liked Brazil, and Byron, too.  We started making plans to marry and to get to Brazil.  We were married in 1987, but it took a few more years to get to the mission field. Our wedding was simple.  We were married at Chamblissburg Baptist Church in front of the parsonage.  Pastor George Law counselled with us before we were married.  He seemed concerned about my "independent sp...

25 years and many miles together...  click on the image to go to Picasa Web Albums and view this short slide show.

Newlyweds become oldyweds, and oldyweds are the reasons that families work.   Anon. Chains do not hold a marriage together.  It is threads, hundreds of tiny threads which sew people together through the years.  Simone Signoret Remember, we all stumble, every one of us.  That's why it's a comfort to go hand in hand.  Emily Kimbrough I dreamed of a wedding of elaborate elegance, A church filled with family and friends. I asked him what kind of a wedding he wished for, He said one that would make me his wife. Author Unknown Ah, what dreams we have as young people!  Dreams of large houses and beautiful children.   Hopes for happiness always and perfect days.  On May 30, 1987, I dreamed of telling stories to children under a tree in a far off land with my missionary husband hurding them all to hear.  I dreamed of travels and baptisms and my husband preaching to large crowds, of teaching missionary children, and occasional ...