Thirty Years

This past week we celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary. When we told people how many years we have been married, their jaws would drop! They are not used to people staying together for that many years.


In this society it is common for a man and woman to begin a family, but after a number of years, the man (usually) leaves this family unit and joins together with another woman. They begin a new family. This cycle just continues and repeats itself. After some time, the abandoned woman may find a new man and begin a second family with him. Families become a very entangled web. So, when you ask someone about their family they have to think about it for a moment. The most common response is to tell you how many siblings they have with the same mother and then rattle off how many half-brothers and sisters they have through subsequent parental unions.


Did you ever think that simply staying married could be a way to witness to the world? Being faithful to your spouse is a reflection of God's faithfulness to us and to to his promises. With God's help and blessing, every Dominican couple that is confirmed in the Lutheran church becomes a witness to their family and to the people around them of God's faithfulness to us and of the faithfulness that he desires from us toward our spouse.

The concept of faithfulness is not very strong here, so it is a struggle for many to not give up and take the easy way out and follow the example that society gives them. It is not easy for them because they have not seen faithfulness in action, and it is not easy for us because sin and pride get in the way. But together, we are all asking God to increase our faith and trust in His faithfulness and help us be faithful to Him so we can be his witnesses to the world. We want to give thanks and praise to Him who shows us his faithfulness every day.