I thought I would share part of a story I posted on my other blog as we celebrate Valentine's Day. I am blessed to have spent 45 Valentine's Days with my sweet hubby, 43 of those as his wife. We have raised 7 children, we have 3 special "in-loves" and we have a bushel of grandchildren we adore. We have gone through the good, the bad, and the ugly (including Lyme) and we know how blessed we are to be able to start and end each day together.
Going back to the very beginning....
When I was eighteen I left home to attend Bible college. The Lutheran Bible Institute, later known as Golden Valley Lutheran College, was a small 2 year college with around 250 students living on campus. It was nestled down in a valley of a suburb of Minneapolis, MN. The students came mostly from the Midwest and I was no different. It was a great atmosphere to live in and I enjoyed my two years there very much as we studied the Bible and grew in our faith.
On parents weekend, during my first semester, my older sister, who raised me from age 11 to 18, and her good friend came for a visit. They looked over the campus while I was studying, and then met me on the second floor of the commons building after their campus tour. We visited for a short while by the railing where we could see below to the first floor, before they announced that they had "found the guy I was going to marry".
I was more than a little stunned, but listened quietly as they went on about how nice the young man was that they had met, and that he wanted to be a missionary in Africa just like his cousin David Simonson. They told me that they could "just see us married, living in Africa and working for God as missionaries". Of course, I had been intrigued by mission work for years as they already knew, but I was not so sure about them picking out my husband! I finally asked who this guy was and just when they were going to tell me, my sister said, "Oh, there he is! He just walked in the door!!"
I had already met Joel and my first impression of him had not been very good, so when I looked down to see who it was I was shocked, and said in a loud voice, "You have got to be kidding! He is loud, obnoxious, AND he wears BOOTS! I was a city girl. with big plans for a Mary Tyler Moore life and he was a country boy after all. My sister and her friend just looked at each other, smiled, and said, "We will pray about it."
Six months later we started dating and just 18 months from our first date we were married with my sister's friend singing The Lord's Prayer at our wedding! We have been married 43 years now and Joel still wears his cowboy boots. No matter where we have lived ~ in the West, Midwest, or across the ocean in The Philippine Islands~ whether he is at home, in the pulpit, or performing a wedding ceremony~ his boots are on his feet or nearby. I have come to love those boots along with his western hat, jeans, and denim shirts. And I would much rather be a country girl than city girl any day. I know how very blessed I am to have this man in my life.
When people ask how we met, we love to say we were prayed together, AND those who are prayed together stay together! God had a plan for our lives that including marriage vows that brought us together for quite an adventure in faithful living. Because of that plan, and of course my sweet Joel, cowboy boots will always hold a special place in my heart. And Joel......
Happy Valentine's Day Sweetheart!
I thought I would share part of a story I posted on my other blog as we celebrate Valentine's Day. I am blessed to have spent 45 Valentine's Days with my sweet hubby, 43 of those as his wife. We have raised 7 children, we have 3 special "in-loves" and we have a bushel of grandchildren we adore. We have gone through the good, the bad, and the ugly (including Lyme) and we know how blessed we are to be able to start and end each day together.
Going back to the very beginning....
When I was eighteen I left home to attend Bible college. The Lutheran Bible Institute, later known as Golden Valley Lutheran College, was a small 2 year college with around 250 students living on campus. It was nestled down in a valley of a suburb of Minneapolis, MN. The students came mostly from the Midwest and I was no different. It was a great atmosphere to live in and I enjoyed my two years there very much as we studied the Bible and grew in our faith.
On parents weekend, during my first semester, my older sister, who raised me from age 11 to 18, and her good friend came for a visit. They looked over the campus while I was studying, and then met me on the second floor of the commons building after their campus tour. We visited for a short while by the railing where we could see below to the first floor, before they announced that they had "found the guy I was going to marry".
I was more than a little stunned, but listened quietly as they went on about how nice the young man was that they had met, and that he wanted to be a missionary in Africa just like his cousin David Simonson. They told me that they could "just see us married, living in Africa and working for God as missionaries". Of course, I had been intrigued by mission work for years as they already knew, but I was not so sure about them picking out my husband! I finally asked who this guy was and just when they were going to tell me, my sister said, "Oh, there he is! He just walked in the door!!"
I had already met Joel and my first impression of him had not been very good, so when I looked down to see who it was I was shocked, and said in a loud voice, "You have got to be kidding! He is loud, obnoxious, AND he wears BOOTS! I was a city girl. with big plans for a Mary Tyler Moore life and he was a country boy after all. My sister and her friend just looked at each other, smiled, and said, "We will pray about it."
Six months later we started dating and just 18 months from our first date we were married with my sister's friend singing The Lord's Prayer at our wedding! We have been married 43 years now and Joel still wears his cowboy boots. No matter where we have lived ~ in the West, Midwest, or across the ocean in The Philippine Islands~ whether he is at home, in the pulpit, or performing a wedding ceremony~ his boots are on his feet or nearby. I have come to love those boots along with his western hat, jeans, and denim shirts. And I would much rather be a country girl than city girl any day. I know how very blessed I am to have this man in my life.
When people ask how we met, we love to say we were prayed together, AND those who are prayed together stay together! God had a plan for our lives that including marriage vows that brought us together for quite an adventure in faithful living. Because of that plan, and of course my sweet Joel, cowboy boots will always hold a special place in my heart. And Joel......
Happy Valentine's Day Sweetheart!