I want to tell you about my wife. Today is my 17th wedding anniversary. Terri and I started dating in high school her sophomore year. I was a senior. There is an old worn out cliche that talks about “love at first sight”. I think there is an element of truth to that. After our first date, I told her sister that I was going to marry her one day. I guess there are some things you just know.

There are not enough words in the English language to describe how I feel about my wife.  Although our lives have taken many different turns along the way, she never complained, questioned, or doubted what God was doing. It was after my time in the military that I was called by God into His gospel ministry. This was a move and a decision that she sensed as it was coming to me. The day that I told her I was surrendering myself to the ministry, her response was “I already knew”. So, we began. Every decision and every move I felt need to be made, Terri was willing to go and ready to support. I can not say what this has meant and still means today to my pastoral ministry.

I thank her for being such a loving and patient wife. The demands of the ministry are many. Her patience in the face of church life is a blessing to me. I thank her for being so supportive and taking time to pray for me. I thank her for her commitment she made early on to never say anything or act in such a way that would harm the ministry,  bring shame to the church, or to paint a negative picture of Christ.

I want to say Happy Anniversary to Terri. I love you. I would marry you all over again. I look forward to the next chapters in our lives. Thank you for saying “I do”.