You Have One Life to Live – Live it Well

Journal,

We were so young and here we were with our firstborn son. What a time. Yes, this was our firstborn, but we were trusting that the Lord would bless us with more little ones. It was April, 1965. Nathan was just a few days old.

Something else was happening inside me. Right after I got out of the Navy in 1963, I moved my mom and two sisters from Louisiana to Colorado. Mom and dad were divorcing and mom had a sister in Colorado. The problem was that I had been away from home, for four years in the Navy. A year in California, a year and a half in the Philippine Islands, and a year and a half aboard the USS Calvert.

Homesickness was working me over. I wanted our new son to be raised near my family in Louisiana. But how could I take Betty away from her family? I really loved this girl.

‘Maybe we could move half way between her family in Colorado, and my family in Louisiana. That was about as close to fair as I could imagine.’

As I began sharing my heart with Betty, a remarkable thing happened. Without saying a word, she reached for her Bible, and began reading from the book of Ruth –

“Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.” (Rth 1:16-17 kjv)

I sat there stunned for a moment. That was it! Betty gave me her answer.

And it’s been that way ever since. We moved to Louisiana in 1965, and have lived here ever since. As for children, the Lord added three more to the nest. We had David Lynn, who is now with the Lord, then Stephen André, and finally Shana Denise.

Of course with all this came our grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

But did it all happen by chance? I don’t think so.

This brings me to something I read just this morning…

“Lust Fades So Plan Marriage Accordingly”

The article, ‘Lust Fades so Plan Marriage Accordingly’, caught my eye. I was reading from a Military news site that I’m subscribed to. Here are some partial quotes from the article:

“They say that marriage has three parts:  I don’t know you, but I love you.  I know you and I don’t love you.  I know you and I love you.”

“’I know you and I don’t love you … That’s the part of marriage no one ever tells you about.”

“ … reaching the spot where you know for sure that you are with someone who can stand you (and even like you) for the rest of your life is the promised land. You just gotta figure out how to get there from here.”

In Military Life, Quotes by Jacey Eckhart

I realize that Jacey was writing from a military wife’s viewpoint. Military life can be very hard on a marriage. But even at our best thinking about marriage and life, we are still left with too many unanswered questions about, ‘how to get there from here’.

For Betty and me, there could not have been two more unlikely people to have a successful marriage. Someone actually made the statement that our marriage would not last six months.

So much for that prophecy. This September, we will have forty-nine years to our credit.

But there is something else that needs to be considered.

I believe that the unseen hand of the Lord is involved in our lives far more than we can even imagine. Perhaps this is why the apostle Paul told us not to judge anything before the time.

Here is where it began for me …

I’m Going to Find Me a Good Woman

For me I can trace it back to 1963. But for God it can be traced back into eternity passed. Yes, I believe God knew me before I was formed in my mother’s womb. I also believe that God had a plan for both me and Betty that was in accord with eternity. (You can also take this personally for yourself.)

As I was about to muster out of the Navy in 1963, I said to some of my ship mates, “I am tired of this kind of life. I’m going to find me a good woman and settle down.” (Something like that.) 

Where did those words come from? Did the Lord place them in my mouth? Perhaps – Who knows. I often like to think that perhaps I prophesied over myself without knowing it.

Sorry, I don’t mean to over-spiritualize this. But I do believe with all my heart that the Lord God is much more involved in our lives, including our future, than most people realize.

Four months later I found myself married to a godly Christian girl. Betty wasn’t just a good woman, she was a godly woman. Betty became God’s instrument in bringing me to the Lord. I was deeply impressed with her Christian bearing.

The short side of things is that I truly came to know the Lord in a personal way. And not so long after that I found myself responding to a call to the gospel ministry.

Here it is, almost 49 years later and what have I learned?

I’ve learned that…

God’s Ways Are Not Our Ways

And here is where I want to do something that I have never done on my blog. The past Sunday I provided an instructional teaching at Christian Challenge, entitled, ‘The Ways of the Lord.’

Rather than spend any more time simply writing about the things that I’ve learned, I decided to offer a video of what I shared with our congregation this past Sunday. The message is titled, ‘The Ways of the Lord’.

You may learn something that you aren’t familiar with. If you want to take the time to listen to this message, I urge you to have your Bible at hand. The Lord will likely show you much more than I can relate in the teaching.

The Ways of the Lord from Christian Challenge on Vimeo.

In Christ always,

Buddy

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