Go Beyond

Thirty-one years ago on this day, I married the woman I love. And, for the past thirty-one years it has been my privilege to love the woman I married. Loving Cheryl has been easy to do — much easier, I am sure, than it has been for Cheryl to love me.

When I found Cheryl I found a good thing. Like the man who found a pearl of great price and sold all that he had in order to posses it, I too recognized the surpassing value of what I had found in Cheryl when I was a young man. She has enriched my life. I still treasure my days and my moments with her.

I enjoy the greatest security and comfort knowing that I am loved by the woman I deeply love and respect. I have much less hair and far more girth than I did on the day we tied the knot, but the knot is still tied. Neither the years nor the changes they bring have loosened that knot or diminished our love for one another. That alone makes me a wealthy and fortunate man.

Two weeks ago I sat next to a young Australian couple on a flight from Siem Reap to Bangkok. As I usually do when I travel and meet folks on an airplane, I engaged them in conversation. I not only learned that they are Christ-followers, but that they were on their honeymoon.

That opened the door for me to encourage them and also to tell them that Cheryl and I were married in the month of November and would be celebrating our thirty-first wedding anniversary. We had a nice conversation about marriage and then settled in for the flight.

As I leaned back in my seat my thoughts turned to my honeymoon. Cheryl and I traveled 2,100 miles on our honeymoon and enjoyed snow skiing and visiting some of our favorite places in the Southwest. We had our first Thanksgiving meal of frozen turkey dinners in our rented condo next to the slopes. And then we returned home, excited about starting our new life together.

A couple of months ago, Cheryl and I attended the wedding of the son of some of our very dearest and oldest friends. At the reception, the best man raised his glass to toast the young couple and said, “When you look back on this day thirty years from now, may you see this as the day you loved each other the least.”

Cheryl and I turned to each other and nodded in agreement. As much as we loved each other thirty-one years ago, our love today is richer and better than either of us could have ever imagined. Today, I am especially grateful to have enjoyed 11,315 days of being married to Cheryl. I love you, Cheryl, and look forward to all of the days still ahead of us.