Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for God has already approved what you do. Always be clothed in white, and always anoint your head with oil. Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun—all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun.

• Ecclesiastes 9:7-9

Is life meaningless when you are in love with the same woman for almost fifty years and following Jesus for more than five years more than that?

Not hardly.

When I met my wife, she had not been out of the Air Force for too long and she was going to college.  I had finished college, going to grad school, and had an Army commitment.

She had been enlisted and I was an officer.  When I had a platoon and filled in as company commander, she kept me grounded.  She reminded me that regardless of what happened, my men were, for the most part, trying to do their best, and all of them, even the goof-offs, were human beings that needed a little respect, more than they usually got.  She constantly reminded me and I did as she suggested.

My wife has told me that she had a “chemical imbalance” and left the service a couple of months before her enlistment was up, but she never told me all the details.  She helped me cope during those four years on active duty, but I became helpless in helping her with her ordeal.  She had been abused by a Lt. Colonel, who falsified medical records to prevent my wife from getting a medical discharge, which meant my wife would have continued to get paid.  What is worse is that the falsified records prevent her from collecting disability also.

But what is the worst, is that when we first arrived in Germany, her hair started falling apart.  The Lt. Colonel’s wife put added stress on her to support the younger wives that needed more confidence.  She never realized that the younger women were playing up to the LTC’s wife to curry favor, and my wife was the one who needed the added confidence.

She now apologizes for the lack of energy and me having to do everything around the house and drive her to dialysis.  And she apologizes for not responding to the love that I show her, but it is I that can never repay her for the love she has shown me.

When you get to that point, in both directions, you will know that your marriage is unshakable.

And we owe it all to Jesus.  God got us together, and we both love Jesus.  My wife, being a nearly lifelong Mom, taking care of her younger siblings growing up, has finally come to the realization that when Heaven’s gates are opened wide, she will want to bring our children and grandchildren with her, but the thought of being with Jesus forever and the idea of no more pain…  She will be running through those gates.

Will I be there to watch her go running off or will I be in Heaven waiting?  Only God knows the answer to that one.

I love you, my Sweets.  Happy Valentine’s Day.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.