So, my wife and I celebrated our wedding anniversary yesterday. We went to church Sunday with a friend of mine and his wife and children whom we had never met. He introduced her to us as “My Wife”. After church we went out to eat together and I asked her if her name really was “My Wife” saying I had never met anyone with a name like that. She looked at her husband with fiery eyes and said NO, my name is Tanya. So, in order to avoid making the same costly mistake, my wife’s name is Teresa.
We have been married 52 years. I was thinking about the significance of this and how we were able to achieve such a milestone, especially in today’s age of quick divorces and multiple marriages. Hmmm . . . I was thinking that I must be a very, very, patient man to have endured 52 years with the same woman. LOL – No letters please – I don’t need to hear about Teresa being the one with the patience, and how she is a Saint for enduring being me all those years.
I agree.
Aside from making peace with Christ and following Him, I credit my wife with keeping me from destroying myself. I was like a wild stallion charging around a corral kicking out boards, rearing up wild-eyed and snorting, trying to find a way to go kick my way out of there and go thundering across the plains with reckless abandon. I almost escaped a time or two until I felt the sting of a rope settling over my neck as I was jerked back to reality. She has been my anchor and I know God was instrumental in orchestrating our getting together.
Before I was a Christian I had hitch-hiked to Atlanta. I got a day job cleaning bricks with a hatchet with the winos and put together enough money to go out one night. I was wanted for numerous crimes by the police in New Orleans and elsewhere and was trying to keep a low profile, so I posed as a college kid. I went to a small hangout that was primarily where college students spent time together and spied on Teresa and two other girls. I went over and introduced myself to them and danced with Teresa a couple of times. Then Teresa announced they had to leave to go to a party. I asked to go but she would not allow it, saying she and her boyfriend were breaking up that night at the party and she didn’t want any trouble.
Huh? Me, cause trouble? I tried my utmost to change her mind, but she would not relent. She did give me her phone number before leaving.
I was mad about the party and started drinking myself into oblivion. I got behind the wheel and had a head-on collision and very nearly died that night. I was in very critical condition for several days, but God allowed me to live. Most every bone in my body was broken and I had multiple operations and was months recovering from it. During this time, I did not know anyone in Atlanta, and thus had no visitors, instead, I read books voraciously. It was at this time that I read the Bible to disprove it and became a follower of Christ.
I lived in a one-room apartment with no radio, TV, or phone and was going bonkers. I had found a job and would take the bus to work but still had no friends. Finally, I decided to go out and I went to a disco near my home. I was on crutches but at least I could get around people. I had to get up and stretch my leg which was still in recovery mode from breaking my femur and enduring painful operations. I stood up to stretch and this girl sat down in my chair. I had arrived early to secure that spot and I was not about to give it up. I promptly tapped her on the shoulder and told her she was sitting in my chair and told her those were my crutches below her feet. She started laughing which seemed curious to me that she would laugh because I was on crutches.
I had not immediately recognized her, but she did me. Lo and behold it was Teresa. I had lost her phone number the night of the car crash and had not even thought about her again. There were at least 1500 people in this two-story disco that neither of us had ever gone to, and she miraculously sat down in the very chair that I was sitting in. I have always felt God put her in that chair. She had never taken drugs, hardly ever had so much as a beer, came from a good home, and was a nice girl who went to church and sang in the choir. I was the diametric opposite (but wanted to change).
To make a long story short we got married 3 months later and raised a wonderful family together raising wonderful kids and grandkids. I feel that God putting us together was one of the greatest blessings I have ever had or will have. Time has flown by, and here we are a half-century later and we are still the best of friends and love each other. I will say our lives have not been a bed of roses beginning with being very poor at the beginning of our marriage and enduring many trials and tribulations, not to mention problems stemming from my dysfunctional childhood, but we fought through the hard times and enjoyed the good times together as God intended.
As I reflect on it, I would hate to be like so many of my friends that just gave up on their marriages and now are growing old alone, and bitter. Many looked over the fence and thought they would get an upgrade, but instead got a good dose of sorrow; some made that mistake several times and ended up alone and bitter and broke. The grass is greener in your own pasture and a cool drink of water is best when drinking from your own well. The Bible spelled that out a couple of thousand years ago. Strange that temptation erases common sense.
Proverbs 5:15
Drink water from your own well – share your love only with your wife.