On 27 Years

Mark and I had a whirlwind courtship. We met in the early days of 1981 at Bible college. Mark came as a new student in the second semester and I - well, lets just say I had been there a while. We had a mutual friend, and that sort of threw us together a little bit. We would talk, and the thing I noticed about Mark was that he would actually talk to me. We would talk about the Bible and our lives, not just small talk that other guys seemed so intent on making. Mark was different. He walked around campus with a cup of coffee in his hand- the only one to do so in those days. He had sweet blue eyes and a corny sense of humor. (still does)
When we returned to school that fall, we started to date each other almost immediately. I asked him to be my date for Sadie Hawkins day in October, and that actually turned out to be the day he took me to meet his parents. We got engaged over Thanksgiving, and left school in January to be married.
I took him to meet my parents in Maine right after Christmas that year. There was 3 feet of snow on the ground when we got there and 4 when we left. Mark found it hard to get a good grip on things in his cowboy boots, and he wondered if they would always call him "Mahk". (They still do.) He passed inspection and we returned to West Virginia.
The wedding was small, and quickly planned. We just stood up after church on Sunday, January 17, 1982, with his family and a few of our friends present. Our reception was a potluck dinner. It was so cold that day that Mark's Dad and brother missed church trying to get Mark's car started so that we could go on our honeymoon. I remember a lot of snow on the ground- and an acquaintance of the family opened his parts store and sold us a battery for the car on our way out of town. We honeymooned at Pipestem State Park, which is, by the way, very quiet in the middle of January. Perfect for honeymooners.
How grateful I am for the way God works things out in our lives. In all of our marital ups and downs I have never doubted that Mark was God's man for me. He still makes me laugh with his corny jokes. He still knows more than me about almost everything. He still amazes me with his simple life goal- faithfulness- and the tenacity with which he holds on to it. His faithfulness to God and to me continue to bless my life. They are the bedrock of our marriage. I am so grateful for 27 years.