Commitment

As a family we travelled to Vancouver, Washington the weekend before last and had a beautiful celebration for my parents, Wayne and Marilyn Stanfield.  They have been marriage 50 years as of June 15th.  How cool is that!  We had several family members and quite a few friends come to my sister's place for dinner.  It was a surprise and my parents loved it.  The best part of the celebration was the fact that my parents took their covenant vows seriously 50 years ago. "In sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, 'til death do us part" meant something for both of them.  They have been through a 10-year cancer scare; lost jobs; re-training, rebellious teens; temptations; stock market crashes; strokes; loss of friends; deaths in the family; and many other minor set-backs, yet they chose to lean into each other and on our Lord and have survived and thrived.  They are an amazing testimony that it can be done, even against many scary odds!  That gives me hope for lots of the couples in our culture, at such a time as this.  Thank you Lord that your message of marriage being a breeding ground for holiness, not happiness, is being heard...at least by some.