"Preach the gospel at all times; if necessary, use words." Saint Francis of Assisi

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

20 Years

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
"Two people can accomplish more than twice as much as one; they get a better return for their labor. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But people who are alone when they fall are in real trouble. And on a cold night, two under the same blanket can gain warmth from each other. But how can one be warm alone? A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer."


Twenty years ago today Benay and I were married. We were talking last week and it feels like these twenty years have passed in 5 minutes. We never thought we would have 6 kids. We never thought we would be enjoying the blessing of the pregnancy of our 6th child while we celebrate our 20th anniversary. We never thought we would live in another country and love the experience of being missionaries. We've known what it's been like to literally have nothing and we've known what it's like to have jobs that made our lives comfortable (materially speaking). We've been blessed to watch and help each other grow spiritually. We've also been blessed to be able to see our kids tell the world of their love for the Savior and as well as watch them share the love of Christ with their friends. We've been shown how truly big and good God's family is. Many things have changed over the last 20 years.

Two things that haven't changed are God's love for us and our love for each other. As I type that I realize that I am wrong. God's love never changes but our love for each other has changed. It's stronger today than it was 20 years ago and grows stronger every day. God's faithfulness overwhelms us. We could not be more blessed.

Here we were 20 years ago today:
And here is a picture of all of us last December.

2 comments:

Mark and Ali said...

you inspire me!
especially with all the kids! ha!

much love
ali

Susan Doss said...

What a beautiful family you 2 have! (and it keeps growing)congrats. Happy 20th! James and I celebrate our '35th' this Nov. that's hard to believe. Bronwyn is looking more like you, Benay every time I see a new picture of her.