Kendra and I recently helped her parents–Ken and Nelda–celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. Ken and Nelda met in the Midland/Odessa, TX area. He was a fresh-faced and muscled Army man. She was an attractive and confident office worker. They dated four months. Then Ken popped the question. Nelda’s “Yes!” launched a world tour, as Ken’s army career took them from state to state and country to country. Their love endured numerous moves, long separations due to war, and the challenges of cancer and multiple sclerosis. Fifty years after their wedding day, their children, childhood friends, siblings, in-laws, neighbors, nephews and nieces crowded into the backyard of Ken and Nelda’s stucco home in sunny Phoenix. Kendra’s brother smoked beef ribs, brisket, and pulled pork in a smoker the size of a swimming pool. A cake fashioned in the shape of the earth was presented–a flag waving proudly from each place on that globe where Ken and Nelda had lived. The back porch was filled with portable tables and folding chairs. Family members shared stories and laughed. Nelda cried for joy. Ken smiled and shook hands. My daughter Jordan and my brother’s son Joshua provided entertainment. Before we ate, we held hands in a giant circle and thanked God for the blessing of this marriage and a love that had lasted fifty years. What a joy it was to celebrate this love!Read More »No Reservations Required: God’s Other Love (Matt. 8/ Jer. 3) April 14, 2013 – Sunday Morning Message
