The Joy of Anticipation Another Chapter

“Enjoy life with the woman whom you love all the days of your fleeting life which He has given to you under the sun; for this is your reward in life and in your toil in which you have labored under the sun” (Ec. 9:9).   

Hey Gang:  As I mentioned in the last Morning Message, the joy of anticipation is the nectar that adds spice to that special thing that you patiently await to fulfill a dream or deep desire of your heart. The fulfillment of the desire of a five-year-old boy for a little yellow truck was far more than a little yellow truck but gave me, even in the times of the adversity of the world we were living in at that time.

I promised I would share that other great time of anticipation that occurred at the Christmas Season sixty-two years ago.    After High school was a time of turmoil in my life and I did not have a clue about what direction I was going.  As I look back upon that time in my life, I see clearly that God had a very clear plan for my life but, up to that point I had done a very proficient job of sabotaging it. 

I was in the final stages of flunking out of college for the second time and did not have a clue where the road would take me.  But God knew.  Sports, poor judgment and a lack of discipline to use my God-given abilities to do well in college had been my albatross.  If the choice was preparation for a test or getting a paper in on time or going to a football game- the later won every time.

But this one was more than a football game.  You see there were only a hand full of rooters for the Ohio-away-team in the bleachers that Michigan night and one of them happened to be this young lady who caught my eye.  God does work in mysterious ways.  Just a passing in the bleaches, right? Well, I will not try and give you all the details that followed, in the next several years, that would take a few pages and not the point I want to make.

After receiving my walking papers from college, I ended up in Lancaster, Pennsylvania hauling milk from Amish farms to a dairy; however, one day I received a letter from my friends, neighbors and Uncle Sam that invited me to become a member of the United States of America Army.  I choose to not to open that letter and went the next day and joined the Air Force. 

I believe, and most agree, that we had a rather strange courtship, visits between basic training and tech school and then my orders came down for a trip to the exotic nation of Korea -keeping the Post office busy! I wish I could say the year went rapidly but rather more like molasses in January.   But end it did.

So, what was the great anticipation.  On that Christmas after coming home from Korea I asked my future bride to be my wife and placed an engagement ring on her finger.  When did the anticipation begin to grow?  That day at a football game on a chilly night in the bleaches at a football game. 

Did the anticipation end when I placed the ring on her finger, no.  Did it end when we met at the altar and her dad led us in committing our lives to each other?  No.  Did it end with the birth of our four children, no?  We will celebrate 62 years since we exchanged the promise before God and friends that our marriage would last? And what has been the catalyst to that success?  We anticipate daily what God will do through us.   ou see, God gave the perfect formula for the perfect marriage and He has a whole smorgasbord of blessings for those who  follow His formula.

Our prayer for you this Christmas Season is to put your hands in the hands of the One who stills the waters - even in marital relationships, and He wants to bless your sox off this Christmas Season.

Blessings,

Gramps