Married for 34 Years!

Steve and I will celebrate our 34th wedding anniversary this week. It’s been a wonderful 34 years. God has truly blessed us. We met in college and dated for 3 years before our marriage. It was our sophomore year at ENC and my friend told me that a boy named Steve Scott was interested in asking me out but was very shy so she was checking first so he wouldn’t be afraid to ask me. I was touched by his hesitancy and “humility” (more like pride and fear of rejection) and decided this was someone I would like to know better. But when he asked me, I had to work so in order to protect his ego, I told him I would try to rearrange my schedule, so we could go to a concert on campus. The concert was some Christian band called “Shekinah.” The concert was awful but I really liked Steve- I guess he really liked me too, because we pretty much never dated anyone else after our first date. Did I mention the week of our first date, I had 4 different dates that week with other guys. Out of the four, Steve was my favorite. It’s almost like an old version of the “The Bachelorette!”

OK, so here is the real version of the first date. After finding out for sure Judy would go out with me through mutual friends, I made myself vulnerable and asked her for a date. Back in the day, college students didn’t have much money so funds were limited. Since Sigma Society was sponsoring an on campus concert and I was a loyal Sigma member, I decided to ask her to the concert. It was safe, cheap and I was sure I wouldn’t have to talk much. I had a fresh twenty dollar bill just waiting to impress her after the concert. The group, Shikinah, was a Christian rock group, a very new concept in the 70’s. It was loud, not very good but we stayed with it… I didn’t know what else to do! After that fiasco we went to the Dugout, ENC’s snack bar. I asked what she wanted, like a good date and proceeded to order our light snack. Trouble….no change at the register! Needless to say no food was available so back to break the news to Judy. Like a trooper she said she wasn’t hungry and she was tired anyway. So I took her back to the dorm, said goodnight and thought that would be the last time she would go anywhere with me. But as I look back now, she made the right choice by agreeing to go out with me again and again and again!

In the Spring of 1973, we professed our love for one another while we were walking in Boston Commons. Prior to this, we would just say “we were in like with each other.” Steve proposed to Judy on February 13, 1975, the night before Valentines Day. So began the enduring relationship of Steve and Judy. God has truly blessed our lives as we have strived to dedicate our lives to the Lord as individuals and as a married couple. At our wedding, we sang the following hymn as a congregation which truly expresses our commitment to build a Christian marriage and home:

O give us homes built firm upon the Savior,
Where Christ is Head and Counselor and Guide;
Where every child is taught His love and favor,
and gives his heart to Christ, the Crucified.
How sweet to know that, tho’ his footsteps waver,
His faithful Lord is walking by his side!
O give us homes with godly fathers, mothers,
Who always place their hope and trust in Him;
Whose tender patience turmoil never bothers;
Whose calm and courage trouble cannot dim;
A home where each finds joy in serving others,
And love still shines, tho’ days be dark and grim.
O give us homes where Christ is Lord and Master,
The Bible read, the precious hymns still sung;
Where prayer comes first in peace or in disaster,
And praise is natural speech to every tongue;
Where mountains move before a faith that’s vaster,
And Christ sufficient is for old and young.
O Lord, our God, our homes are Thine forever!
We trust to Thee their problems, toil and care.
Their bonds of love no enemy can sever
If Thou art always Lord and Master there.
Be Thou the Center of our least endeavor.
Be Thou our Guest, our hearts and homes to share.”
(Words by Barbara B. Hart, 1965)

For Better

For worse

and Happily ever after!