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Monday, June 24, 2019

Your Dying Spouse 636 - Story Of A Love

Today, June 24th, is Barbara's birthday...and our wedding anniversary.

August 9 will also be our wedding anniversary.

Confused?

There's a divorce and remarriage in there. The second marriage, on June 24, took place in Las Vegas, where we both flew (Barb from Indiana, me from Texas) to atend a Focus on the Family wedding seminar.

I had been an unfaithful fool in our short marriage...not with another woman, but worse, unfaithful to her in being true to my own pride.

I courted her all over again, with the weight of my character fully visible. That she was even willing to talk to me was a miracle.

Barb said in the weeks leading up that I could arrange for a remarriage, but she had not yet decided. She had a precondition that only God knew about.

So, on the appointed day, we both arrived, and got a wedding license, and then dressed for the maybe-wedding.

It took place in a helicopter, at night, over the Strip.

At the heliport, there waited the bird, the pilot, and a priest, who'd just gotten dispensation from his bishop to perform the ceremony.

And Barb said, "OK. I'm in."

The presence of a priest was her precondition.

And how did the priest get authority? Our first marriage was legally terminated, but never annulled...so in the eyes of the church, this was a rededication of vows, with a bit of extra paperwork.

I wasn't big enough for wedlock
and so I hurt a heart I loved.
God and me, we had a deadlock;
He demanded faith be proved.
There was divorce we didn't want;
would our dreams be uncompleted?
I put away my self-pride vaunt
and took medicine that was needed.
Counseling took no tender mercy
upon my selfish, foolish soul;
came God's help, and His courtesy
of making what was broken whole.
What was in her heart I can only guess,
but in the end...she said Yes.

Music from Jo Stafford, with You Belong To Me.



Thanks to Carol Ashby, Blessed Are The Pure Of Heart is back on Kindle, and will be available in paperback soon.

Friends are everything. I couldn't have done it.

Marley, the canine waif from Afghanistan, whom WE helped save, has a Facebook page! Please drop by to see how happy he is today.


Below are my recent releases on Kindle -please excuse their presence in the body of the blog. I haven't the energy to get them up as 'buttons' in the sidebar. You can click on the covers to go to the Amazon links.








14 comments:

  1. Andrew!! This is THE BEST EVER blog post...EVER! The poem is perfect. The story is perfect. You may not see that, but it is. It brought tears to my eyes for you guys and the re-happiness you vowed that day. Praise God!

    Happy Birthday, Barbara! The best of blessings to you! ♥

    And... Happy Anniversary to both of you!! ♥♥

    Prayers always!

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    1. Diana, your words mean so much...thank you, from the bottom of my heart.

      We truly appreciate the prayers; you are in ours.

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  2. Beautiful! Barbara gave you a second chance just like God gives us endless second chances when we mess up. Happy birthday Barbara!
    KB

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    1. KB, thank you...I was so blessed by her gift of another chance. She thanks you for your birthday wishes!

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  3. A beautiful story of redemption!! Oh my heart is so blessed! Thank you!

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  4. Andrew, I always love reading yours and Barb's love story. I didn't remember reading that there was an unspoken precondition. Isn't it great when God gets ahold of us and reveals things to us?

    Great poem. I'm praying for you both, my friend.

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    1. Jeanne, I actually didn't know about the precondition until years later. God is kind of sneaky, in a nice way!

      Thank you so much for your kind words, and for your prayers.

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  5. Happy Birthday, Barbara! And Happy Anniversary to both of you!

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  6. Congratulations to both of you, and Happy birthday to Barbara.

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    1. Jan, thank you so much! And Barb appreciates your birthday wishes.

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  7. Happy birthday to Barbara and congratulations on your anniversary. At least you only have to remember one date. :)

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    1. Thanks Lisa! The 'same date' does make things easier.

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