Yesterday my wife Amy & I celebrated our 24th wedding anniversary.

Thinking back to when I asked Amy’s dad Ron for permission to marry his youngest daughter I can only imagine his thoughts.  Having had three children already married lessened the shock, but it’s a huge risk to say “You have my blessing” to a relative stranger.

I never asked, but I imagine he must have though many things including:

“She’s our baby!?!”

Yes, Amy is their youngest child and a dearly beloved daughter.  in fact, Amy’s name means “Beloved” and she is and was the beloved daughter of Ron & Rose Fayas.

“We barely know you.”

We’d only met a couple of times — we were going to school in Chicago, IL and they lived in Green Bay, WI.  We talked a few times briefly over the phone, but that’s it.

How are you going to provide for her?

Or, more specifically, “You’ll have a college degree, but you don’t have a full-time job.  How are you going to provide for her?”  Right again, I wanted to permission to marry their daughter even though I only had two part-time jobs, no insurance and no specific plan for where we would live after we married.

And, I had the audacity to think that they would give me their blessing to marry their daughter?!?

And, what was Amy thinking?

I knew, and my friends all knew, that Amy was nicer, wiser, harder working, more responsible and better looking than I was.  To this day I still don’t know what she was thinking she was going to get out of the deal.

Obviously with that list of attributes — I didn’t even mention her other attributes that were also on my mind — I knew that I was blessed with the undivided attention of an incredible young woman.

What was working?

I suppose the greatest asset I had is that I knew that God and I both loved Amy.

God knew Amy was pretty. God gave me some nice words to tell her so.

God taught Amy to value self-discipline and God knew I needed a lot of self-discipline.  Again, God gave me some nice words to express how much that I admired Amy.

God also knew that Amy was a bit too serious for a twenty year old and that she needed to laugh.  Even though my silliness and sense of humor made Amy feel VERY uncomfortable at times we laughed, a lot!

Today I’m trying to embrace my need for safety

Someday, probably sooner than later, my own kids — Shannon and Josh — will be in love and want to marry someone.  When that day comes I hope that I will be as gracious as Ron and Rose were to me, and I hope that they will be as blessed and full of laughs as Amy and I have been.

Wise Words For A Happy Life

Look for positives in life. — “A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit.” 1

Enjoy the blessings you have. — “All the days of the oppressed are wretched, but the cheerful heart has a continual feast.” 2

Laugh with, not at, one another. — “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.” 3

1. Proverbs 15:13
   
2. Proverbs 15:15
   
3. Proverbs 17:22