An Engagement!

Our daughter, Michelle, has accepted a ring from a fine Christian gentleman, Aaron Steele, who has been wooing her for the past eight months. They are working on a wedding date in August, but still have a few kinks to work out. They are at that stage in their lives where long engagements are not necessary. Actually when you think about it, unless someone is still in school, like my other two daughters were when they got engaged, there is no reason for a long engagement. After all, at this point you should be past the point of wondering if this is the right one or not. I can say that, because it worked for Kathy and me. We were married five months after we met. But then we were 25 years old and thought we were mature and had our heads screwed on straight. Boy, do you grow up that first year of marriage, and with me, those first two years. But it has been a good experience, and I have enjoyed the last 32 years of my life. It’s not like I have all the answers, but I do speak from experience.

The important thing to remember is to keep God’s commandments of love (the 10 Commandments). ‘Thou shall not commit adultery’ is good one to remember to keep. And ‘thou shall not bear false witness;’ after all you need to trust one another. How about the last one, ‘thou shall not covet?’ This basically covers selfishness, and if you don’t put your spouse’s interests and happiness above your own, you are headed for a rocky landing. Of course a marriage is going to have a good start if a couple puts God first in their marriage.

From a parental point of view, we prayed for our children’s mates from the time they were small. And, although it wasn’t formally done, we taught them what they were to look for and expect in a husband or wife. I’m not trying to pat myself on the back, but I think our three daughters have done well. There were a few rocky times, but they have chosen well.

On another note, and I understand that there are not that many readers of this blog, but I would really appreciate any comments. It doesn’t matter if you disagree with my point of view. I will be the first to concede that I have not all wisdom. I think comments would help people to think about the topic, or if you have another topic which you would like to have discussed, please comment on that as well. A couple topics that I have on the backburner are ‘Worship’ and ‘God’s authority’ especially as it relates to the book, The Shack, which seems to have cultivated a number of followers. Let me know what you would like discussed as well.

Although I haven’t mentioned this before, I am thrilled to be able to send out these messages and trust they are well-received. Your encouragement means more than you will know. Thank you for spending the time reading these few ‘peanuts’ that I have picked up over the past 56 years.