Tomorrow will mark 25 years married to the same woman, first time.  We celebrated our anniversary last Saturday night at the Woodlands Conference Center and Resort with 19 of our closest friends and family members.  Everything went off as planned and the evening was a memory that money cannot buy, although it did cost a pretty penny.

This was the second weekend in a row that I have managed the sound board for a memorial service at our church.  The one this past Saturday was for the father of one of our members.  Her husband spoke for approximately 20 minutes about how much his father in law had meant to him and how much he was going to be missed.  As I listened to Scott talk about Bob, it occurred to me how we often wait until people are dead and gone to recognize them.  Scott had great things to say about his father in law and it was very inspiring to all that were there.

I was so glad that I worked the memorial service Saturday morning because it gave me the idea of telling each person that attended our party why they were there and what a difference they had made in our lives.  Mr. crybaby was able to stand and look at each person and tell them what they meant to Cyndie and I and how much richer our lives were because they had been a part of it.  I was A-OK until I mentioned our oldest son Jason and his wife Valerie who were not at the party.  We did not even invite them since they are many miles away in Florida and are already scheduled to spend Christmas with us.  There are only so many trips that one can afford back and forth each year.  We had not intended to have any of our boys attend just based on the precedent that Cyndie’s sister and brother in law set when they had their 25th anniversary.  Since we had to pay for 20 plates for the dinner and since we only had 19 on the list which included Cyndie and I, we added a plate Saturday morning so that the middle and youngest sons could attend.

Jason was a major blessing to Cyndie and I because he really taught us to put our faith in God in a mighty way.  He had some medical issues 2 months into his life and we almost lost him.  Having only been married for just under 2 years, we were thrust into a major faith mode when we were faced with the possibility of losing this gift that God had given us.  We faced the fact that there was nothing we could do to save his life and that it was entirely in God’s hands and that our job was to pray and expect the best.

Anyhow, I made it through speaking to each and every person in the room and Cyndie actually stood and said some things to everyone as well. 

This night was preceded by our Friday date night where we saw “Facing the Giants”.  This is a movie that was made by a church and the actors are members of the church.  As with the story line of the movie, the fact that it has been playing in theaters for some time is a testament that “with God, all things are possible”.

A quote from the movie that stuck with me is ” Two men prayed for rain for their crops.  One of them began to prepare his fields for the rain and the other didn’t.  Which one had faith?”  So often we pray and wait rather than acting as if the prayer was going to be answered by preparing for the blessings we requested.

Hmmmm, maybe there is an application for this in my life.