On June 15, 1974

This date has always been a magical day for me.  I married Cathy at Mount Pleasant Brethren in Christ Church in Mount Joy, Pennsylvania 38 years ago.  We still hold hands, kiss often, cuddle, and do all the things couples do to express our absolute enjoyment of each other's presence and our love.  Our turtle pond is located in Lancaster, California at the present moment, in a nice house on a tree-lined street.  And yes, there is a turtle pond in the back yard!

Afro's were in when we got married.  Ben Franklin glasses were popular, as were bean bag chairs, bell bottom pants, CB radios, chokers, "chopper" bicycles, clacker balls, Cuban heels on men's shoes, cybernetics, denim jackets, disco dancing (please, God, don't let this come back!), earth shoes, 8-track tapes, hot pants, "Jaws" T-shirts at the beach, kissathons (always popular!), mood rings, mutton chop sideburns, pet rocks, punk fashions, punk purple hair, roller disco, "Space Invaders" video game, spandex, streaking, string bikinis, Susan B. Anthony dollar, "Trekkies", the unisex look, velveteen jackets, waterbeds (we still sleep on ours), white stockings and wigs.  Farrah Fawcett-Majors posters were popular and the 55 mile per hour speed limit wasn't.  These were the fads and fancies of the 1970's I remember.

Nobody had cell phones.  Many people were still on party lines with their phone service.  No one had a laptop computer, or a desktop computer.  We used IBM Selectric typewriters!  The font balls were interchangeable and one could use a different color ribbon.  I really don't think I would have believed someone if they told me then that eventually I would open my laptop computer, go to Skype, and talk to my daughter face-to-face from Lancaster, California to Mount Airy, Maryland!  No phone!

In 1974 the Chevy Malibu got about ten miles to the gallon and went from naught to sixty in less than six seconds!  Filling the tank cost around $10.  Our Malibu today (2009 model) gets over 30 miles to the gallon and takes about 11 seconds to get to sixty.  It does however have cruise control, tell me how many miles I can go before I need gas, tell me my tire pressure on all four tires, connect to my cell phone so I can be hands-free while I drive (a service I do not use) etc.  I could fix anything that went wrong with my 72 Malibu SS 454 cu. in. engine!  It had chrome bumpers.  Computers are necessary to determine what's wrong with my 2009 Malibu and I can't fix much that goes wrong.  Cars don't have chrome bumpers anymore!  This Malibu has a tank less than half the size of my '72 Malibu and costs nearly $50 to fill!

In 1974 airplanes and jets had comfortable wide seats, stewardesses who treated one like a paying customer, and we could go right to the gate to greet friends flying in to Harrisburg or Philadelphia.  There were no TSA agents and people were allowed to smoke on the flight.  Meals were served and the food wasn't bad.  Today airplanes and jets are designed for thin people with short legs and small feet.  A child of ten would be comfortable on today's aircraft.  Although we still pay to fly, we are not treated like paying customers, but like cattle, to be herded into chutes, inspected, and sent along to our respective corrals.  TSA agents with a shoe-size IQ and the personality of stinging nettle do their utmost to make our travel through the chutes as unpleasant and demanding an experience as possible.  After my back surgery, while in a wheel chair, I was asked to stand up so a TSA agent could use his wand to make sure I wasn't carrying a concealed weapon.  Had his IQ been sufficient I might have explained that people in wheelchairs generally had difficulty standing, but I was sure that words of more than one syllable would be lost in the interpretation.  Welcome to traveling in the twenty-first century!

Some things haven't changed.  I still have difficulty finding 13EEE shoes.  McDonald's food still cures constipation.  Junk mail continues to fill my mailbox to overflowing proportions and I still get fun mail from the IRS.  Just recently I received a letter from that worthy (choke, gasp, cough, expire!), I mean sinister criminal organization, that was typical:  Amount of taxes owed for 2006, $0.  Fees and penalties on amount owed, $436.00.  Yes, of course!  After all, our government needs money!  The Left Coast continues to lead the country in nepotism, egomania, megalomania, and narcissism.  Politicians in California are as sybaritic as their constituents and as out of touch with reality as the Left Coast and politicians in Washington, D.C.

Tomorrow we will celebrate 38 years of marital bliss.  Both of us have changed over the years, but the core of our loving relationship remains the same.  We find our fulfillment in the Lord, not in each other, and we respect and love each other.  As I look at all the things that have changed over the years I am so glad that we have been able to face those changes together with a united and solid faith in the Lord.  Through the years we have made many new friends, and remained friends with our oldest and dearest friends from the past.  The world around us might not make a whole lot of sense, but life is good.  God is good, all the time.  Life in Him is good.

When we married we wanted children, believed that they would be a blessing, and I wanted to be a pastor, and believed that that job would be fulfilling and blessed.  We had children and they were everything we dreamed they might be.  As I think of them now I am filled with pride.  My sons are tall and strong, have a strong faith in Christ, and walk the talk!  My daughter is lovely, witty, and down-right fun to be with.  One of my sons towers six and a half feet tall, the other is over six feet tall!  Who would have thought!  They married beautiful women with a strong walk in the Lord and have given us wonderful grandchildren.  I spent 37 years in the pastoral ministry, poured my life and love into people in five congregations, and was indeed blessed beyond measure!

Cathy is still my most treasured blessing and gift from the Lord.  So here we are, ready for that special day to dawn, still hand-in-hand, still trusting Jesus, and full of joy.  I love June 15!