Today was Stephanie Hallman’s wedding. She's been married to Dan Anderson for three hours now. They must be both relieved and exhausted, and by now are in route to their honeymoon. God bless them.
Nanci and I and EPM staff members had a great time at the wedding and reception. Steph worked with us at EPM last year and again this year while a student at Corban college. When she returns from her honeymoon, she'll be working for us full time.
Steph's the one who conducts the book giveaways on this blog, and does a lot of things for us, including helping oversee the development of a new and much improved website which will soon come online.
She's been a big help to us, and when I haven't found a picture I like for the blog sometimes I ask her to look. So this time I took pictures at her wedding, and I'm placing them here. Congratulations, Steph. Nanci and I love you. So do all the EPM staff. I doubt you'll check the blog on your honeymoon, but you'll see it when you get back.
A week from today, May 31, is Cheryl Boersma’s wedding. Cheryl is another precious young woman who loves Jesus with all her heart. And though Nanci and I will be out of town because our anniversary is the same day, we wish Cheryl and Matt the very best too.
This is wedding season and I'm sure a lot of you will be going to weddings over the next three months. If you're married, be sure to use this opportunity to think in terms of cultivating and preserving your marriage.
If you're not married, do what you can to support the sanctity of marriage and uphold the importance of this sacred gift and trust God has imparted to humanity. Nanci and I, as we will have been married 33 years a week from today, thank God for His faithfulness, that we are each others' best friends and we love and trust each other more than we ever have.
For those with children, let me remind you that the best two gifts you can give them is that you love the Lord with all your heart, and that you love each other unreservedly. They will find security in your love. And as important as raising children is, remember too that it was your wife or husband with whom you exchanged vows. Children are entrusted to us for perhaps twenty years, what may be a third or fourth of our lives. By God's grace, some of us will be married to our spouses for fifty years or more.
Don't make your family all about your children's activities. Love, honor and love and serve your husband or wife. Carve out time for them. Go out for dates. Do dinner and a movie (we did last night). Go out of town together. (We're going next weekend). Put Christ in the center of your life and conversation. Thank Him together for His goodness and kindness, not only for the big things, but for His small daily provisions of common grace. In a culture that glorifies selfishness and immorality, cultivate and preserve your marriage. God will be honored, and your children and grandchildren will be grateful. And people will see a signpost that points to Christ's love for His bride (Ephesians 5).
I love you, Nanci, and there's no one I'd rather be with than you. Thanks for putting up with me, and being my partner in the great adventure God has laid out for us.
