Anniversaries

Seventy years ago today, my parents were married. Their wedding was a small ceremony, with just a few friends and family members.  My dad was in the army, stationed in Texas, and home on furlough. They were engaged, but it was a last minute decision to get married on that particular furlough. They put their simple ceremony together in just a few days. Those were uncertain times, with D-Day just two days before their wedding. They encountered so many blessings over the years, from weathering lean days together, to raising a passel of boys (the first four came in under three years’ span, another was added about five years after that) and a single girl, to becoming fixtures in the small community of Fountain, MN, to growing old together. They had fifty-five anniversaries before my mom passed away, at seventy-nine years old. My dad passed away ten days shy of ten years later, in the year 2009.

Charles and Audrey Arnold, around the time of their wedding & 55 years later

 It’s hardly sufficient to say I miss them. Charles and Audrey Arnold were amazing people. They were faithful friends, powerful prayer warriors, loving parents (and grandparents), and so much more. I think when you get down to it, you could sum it up by saying they were joyful.  They were full of the kind of joy that doesn’t depend on circumstances but rather depends on an understanding of the sovereignty of our heavenly Father. Happiness comes and goes, but joy lasts forever. I miss their laughter, their wisdom, their hugs, and their joy.

One year ago today, my dear husband R.J.  and I started out on a trip of a lifetime, to celebrate our thirtieth anniversary. We had been planning that trip for about ten years, and by the time we left, the eager anticipation was almost a physical sensation. I chronicled the trip in this blog, but here it is, in a nutshell. We traveled by car to Prince Edward Island, Canada. We took a week to get there, visiting with friends along the way, stopping at the Baseball Hall of Fame, rambling around Acadia National Park, and taking billions of pictures. (OK, that last one was only me.) We spent a glorious week on the Island, visiting Anne of Green Gables tourist attractions, discovering a memorial to A.B. Simpson (founder of the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church), strolling on beaches, and taking billions of pictures. You may sense a theme here. We took a week to travel back home, reluctantly giving up this paradise, visiting with more friends, staying in a remote cabin, exploring Niagara Falls, wandering around Mackinac Island, and, of course, taking billions of pictures. It was an amazing adventure, hand in hand with the love of my life. My parents taught me to embrace the joy in the moment, and we had so many joy-filled moments during that three-week trip last summer.

Us, on our wedding day and on our PEI trip, 30 years later 

While we were on Prince Edward Island, we went on a picnic one day. I brought a couple of Dove dark chocolates along, as a dessert for our simple lunch. You all probably know that Dove candies have little messages on the wrappers. In general, I do not read those messages. I have found most of them to be frivolous, and so I just don’t bother. As I unwrapped one of the candies, I happened to glimpse the message. It may have been just as frivolous as a typical Dove-wrapper-message, but it was timely. It said, “Go out there and make your dreams happen.” Prince Edward Island was a dream ten years in the making, and I was delighted that we had the courage to “go out there and make (it) happen.” However, I don’t see it as a solo, or even dual, adventure. I know that without the hand of God, our dreams are as frivolous as the messages on those Dove wrappers. Even when the circumstances are as outstanding as they were at that moment, it was the joy of knowing that God cherished us and our relationship that truly made the moment special. Moments change. In fact, shortly after we picked up our lunch, the rain began to fall. Circumstances cannot be trusted, but God can. 

Our thirty-first anniversary is coming up in ten days. No three-week adventure is planned, but we will be on a vacation with family. We have been blessed beyond measure, and the joy that formed the lens through which my parents interpreted life has become a part of our blessing and our heritage. Thank you, Jesus, for the life of Charlie and Audrey Arnold and all the lessons they continue to teach me, even in their absence. And thank you for my amazing husband, who embraces our Savior as he faithfully loves me, year after year.