Claire and I are celebrating our 53rd wedding anniversary today. Well, true enough, ours wasn’t the traditional wedding service. For instead of a church and a minister, we had the Council Bluffs courthouse and a judge. And instead of a service featuring candles, flowers, and lovely music, ours featured something quite unusual; namely, an interruption and delay of the proceedings in order that the judge could sentence a handcuffed and shackled prisoner!
But though, the regular wedding it was not, we were legally, lovingly, and in the sight of the gracious God who brought us together, wedded indeed. We have very much enjoyed the adventure we started on that day, especially the wonderful opportunity God gave us to minister together for His Kingdom. As a matter of fact, that’s how today’s anniversary began — joining a few beloved colleagues for prayers and public pro-life witness in front of the wickedly misnamed abortion business, Planned Parenthood.
By the way, the photo collage here shows that kind-hearted judge smiling upon our first married kiss whereas the photo in the lower right corner shows the same couple 53 years later to the day, now old warhorses from the pro-life battles of the last several decades. (In between are a couple of photos of those love-struck kids as they grew up.)