Fifty Years of Marriage. This is love.

There’s a certain movie coming out this week—one I won’t even mention the name of. I could go on and on about my feelings on it and how much I fear young girls and boys believing the lie that behavior like that equals love. When I worked at a crisis pregnancy center, I saw so many young teenagers believing what they saw in movies or on television. I want to wrap each of them up and tell them the truth. I want to beg them not to watch that movie. I want to tell them that isn’t love.

This is.
Love is fifty years of choosing one another. These are my adorable parents who celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary in September. I know I’m blessed. I tear up just thinking about it.
I’d love to tell you they shared some amazing tidbit about how to stay married for fifty years, but my mom would simply laugh and shake her head at me. My dad would raise his eyebrows as if I already know the answer. And I do. Their answer would be God. One simple word. Being married myself I know it feels like too short of an answer. We want statistics and guarantees. But faith would be their answer. Actually, my dad’s answer would be the gospel. Growing up in our house, you could answer any question with the gospel and you would be right.

They taught me to laugh often.

That it’s okay to disagree respectfully. A marriage can stay intact through conflict.

To pray, pray, pray. When you don’t know what to do. When you think you do.

Money matters. Agreeing on finances is one of the best things you could ever do for your marriage.

Give. Give when no one is looking.

Talk to your children like they are adults. They will be soon.

Work hard. Get up early. I’m still not in agreement on that one, but it works for them. They get a lot done before eight a.m.

This is their yard.

Isn’t it beautiful? It takes a lot of work, but it’s their passion. I have killed almost every plant that’s been in my house. I only have one lone survivor holding on.

People want to go stay at their oasis. I can tell you it’s pretty amazing. There’s always coffee and some kind of baked good. There’s always laughter. Sarcasm is welcome. Food is plentiful and homemade, often fresh from the garden.

And then there’s these two…

Who wouldn’t want to hang out with them?
I’m so proud of them. I’m so thankful for them. The greatest gift they ever gave me is loving each other.
The greatest gift I ever gave them is being the baby of the family. 🙂

A few of us are sponsoring a Valentine’s giveaway this week. There’s good stuff up for grabs, including books, chocolate, hand-stamped cards, and a Starbucks gift card. Enter using the giveaway form below… and happy Valentine’s!