Today is my husband’s 80th birthday. My how time passes quickly. I first saw him when I was 13 and he was 20; met him again when I was 19 and he was 26; married him eight months later. We’ll be married 53 years in April. At times the road has been smooth, other times it’s been rocky. We’ve had moments of great triumphs and times of struggle and difficulties. We’ve argued (oh, my, have we argued!) and we have loved (faithfully across five decades).
We both came from dysfunctional families and did our best to not past those things on to our children. Although I’m sure we passed on other not-so-good things. Dysfunction is a contemporary name for “sin-nature” – and we all have one. Regrettably we were not perfect parents; hopefully we raised our children in the admonition of the LORD, and “when they are old, they will not depart from it.”
Now at 73 and 80 we face new issues. We don’t argue as much (takes too much energy), but we do get a bit grumpy, especially when we don’t remember, or are too tired, or because we are aging and that can be difficult at times. Still, we laugh a lot. Bob is funny. I’m funny. So, we laugh with [at] each other!
One of my favorite scriptures comes from the Book of Proverbs. “A merry heart does good, like a medicine.” [Proverbs 17:22 NKJV]
A merry heart comes from knowing God. It comes when we are thankful and grateful for all God has given us. It makes our hearts sing with joy. A merry heart is like medicine for our soul and spirit, and unlike some of the medicine we take for the things that ail us in our old age, it has no dangerous side effects.
So today, with most restaurants closed because of COVID-19 fear, Bob is going fishing with a friend to celebrate. I’m going to step out in faith and courage and go to the grocery store and get crab for his dinner tonight. Then we’ll both laugh a lot tonight over our adventures.
