What I learned about Marriage at 15

When I was a ripe 15 years old I received the best marriage advice and I still hold to it today.

I was a team member on a “Lay Witness Missions.” That was an outreach to fulfill the belief of our congregation that the pastor leads the flock: but the Sheep multiply it. To which I still subscribe to today.

One of my weekend missions was to a small town in rural Iowa. The leaders of this mission trip were an old farming couple that had been married since dinosaurs roamed the Earth. At the time they seemed to me 90 years old.

Normally a youth pastor led the youth night gatherings. But one night the Old Farm preacher stepped in to give us a talk. He shared that marriage is not 50/50 as people claim, it is 100%/100%!

At the end of the teaching the Pastor gave us a challenge. “Start praying for your future spouse today, not to get one, but to get them to you.” So I did.

Curtis had some close calls as his life unfolded. He, like myself, made unwise and even stupid decisions at times. But over the years I faithfully prayed for my future Prince Charming. I prayed that God's grace would ultimately bring us together.

Through many twists, turns and coincidences Curtis and I finally became man and wife. I look back on how we made near misses and added complications to the path, but in the end the broken road got us together.

We still live by the lessons I was taught way back in the 1980s. We have since discovered, to our great relief, that marriage is not a constant 100%. There are seasons where I am 30% and Curtis is 70% and vice versa. But we are 100% committed to seeing it through!

As an old farm adage goes, “you can’t expect a harvest without stepping in a little dirt!”

Happy Honeymooning!

Genesis 2:24 For this reason a man shall leave his mother and father and be united with his wife and the two shall become one flesh!