Jon and Nicole
Pam and I married what in our day was considered relatively late. I was 28, she was 26. Most of our friends were married when they were 21 and were making sympathetic clucking noises about our tardiness. We ignored them until we found each other. Thirty years on we are both glad we waited.

But not everybody does. Pam’s cousin Sandra, a regular visitor to our site, has been with her husband Larry from the get go, and I think they are coming up for 40 years together. My Mom married Dad when she was 21 (after an engagement of two weeks!) and the marriage lasted better than 50 years before he passed away. People are different, that’s all, and age is no determiner of commitment.

So when our son Jon and his girlfriend Nicole, both 20 at the time, sat us down and explained to us that they were determined to get married and did they have our blessing, we gave it without hestitation. Jon was mature when he was five and always had a very clear idea of where he was going in life. He and Nicole had been a steady item for three years, and it was obvious that they were ready for the next step in their relationship.

The wedding was beautiful, and it was a great blessing to Pam and I to see our son and new bride so happy. But it has been an increasing joy to see how the Lord has filled their young lives with friends and family and children of their own to nurture and raise. The Bible says that he who finds a good wife, finds a good thing. This has certainly been my experience, and it is obviously our son’s experience as well. So Happy Anniversary Jon and Nicole. May you live long enough to see your joy replicated in your children’s lives.