Next Practices

Cutting our wedding cake – May 26, 1979

On May 26, 1979, Linda Sue Kiger and I said “I do” to each other at her home church – Third Baptist Church – in St. Louis, Missouri. It’s been quite a ride and continues to be. I am thankful for her for so many reasons, but below is one for each of our 40 years together. Except for the first two, they are in no particular order:

1. She is a faithful follower of Christ.
2. She is a faithful wife who I can count on ‘til death do us part.
3. She is the hardest working person I know.
4. She is happiest when serving and giving to others.
5. She is Mom to our two wonderful sons.
6. She is Nana to our two awesome grandchildren.
7. She is cook, caterer, and kitchen hostess to hundreds every year who get the benefit of eating her delicious food.
8. She never pretends to be something she isn’t.
9. She speaks her mind.
10. She can read a person’s character like an open book.
11. She seeks no glory for herself.
12. She hates evil and hypocrisy.
13. She’s smarter than me.
14. She loves me in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, for better or for worse, in good times and in bad.

Our Wonderful Wedding Party

15. 15. She has managed our finances for the past 25 years after I got tired of doing it the first 15 years of marriage.
    16. She loves doing yard work and says it’s therapeutic for her.
    17. She loves our church and can’t imagine being a member who doesn’t serve it in many ways.
    18. She supports me in major decisions that impact us both.
    19. She has no desire to impress others with material things.
    20. She’s frugal in whatever she buys.
    21. She quickly became a fan of UK basketball and Ale-8 when we were dating in college.
    22. She does my laundry without complaining.
    23. She’s handier around the house than I will ever be.
    24. She puts up with my obsession with my dog, Callie.
    25. She has the common sense that I lost somewhere along the way.
    26. She can remember names of people and their stories far better than me.
    27. She loves, respects, and lives in awe of God’s creation.
    28. She loves and honors her Mom.
    29. She considers dinner at Qdoba and a walk around the mall as a big night out.

Our getaway car – the Big Green Machine thanks to Best Man Wayne Grooms

30. She has many strengths that complement my weaknesses.
31. She appreciates my humor (most of the time).
32. She always has pure motives.
33. She doesn’t cut corners to make things easy on herself.
34. She knows American history and the Constitution and has little tolerance for those who respect neither.
35. She loves MeTV more than any other TV channel.
36. She takes extra food from her cooking jobs to homeless shelters to feed the hungry.
37. She has no fear.
38. She loves students and would happily mother them anytime, anywhere.
39. She loves opening our home to friends, family and guests from around the globe.
40. She has put up with my shenanigans all these years.

Anyone who knows both of us knows that we are very different in some obvious ways, but those are mostly external differences and are superseded by these more important things that unite us:

• Nothing is more important to us than our Christian faith.
• That faith and the truths contained in the Word of God form the lens through which we view, understand, and respond to the world around us.
• It is the basis of our shared fundamental values that determine what we think, say and do, and how we interact with others.
• It is how we can live in a changing and sometimes uncertain world with complete confidence in our future – not because we are in control, but because Someone Greater is and we belong to Him.

Happy 40^th anniversary, Linda! Thank you for being my partner forever. I love you. Here’s to the adventure yet to come…

July 15, 2016 – Our new home and new adventure