Love Leaps Forward

INTRODUCTION

At age sixty-three, I can remember that one of my childhood dreams was to write a book. However, since I loved poetry, I expected some day to write a book of inspiring poems. But here it is, after forty-two years of marriage, I am writing a book with my husband about my childhood and our love. With my husband's love and support, we came together to recall and record some memorable events of our lives, with the hope that others may be blessed from reading them. The experiences we share from our past have greatly impacted our future. Some of these experiences are filled with love. Others tell stories of sickness, pain, sorrow, failure and accomplishments. Of course, there are many other life experiences , but the most memorable events are centered around our love for each other and eventually our love for God. Therefore, we have dedicated this book to you, to one another and to the "ONE" true and living God, whom we have come to know and love. For we now know that without Him we can do nothing.

Though I always loved my husband, over the years I have learned that I must love the Lord my God with all my heart and with all my soul and all my mind ( Deuteronomy 6:5). I know some have said that we must have a love for God before we can truly love others. Well, this could be true, but I'm always doing things, backwards. (I'm left- handed, O.K.) I wish I could use that as an excuse, but I can't. Sadly, I must admit that I loved my husband long before I came to truly know and love God. It was only after experiencing the many ups and downs of love and life, through time my love for God through His Son Jesus Christ emerged.

I really wish I had known God through His Son Jesus Christ before I loved my husband. I am sure had I loved God first, our lives would have been much more fruitful and productive. I guess there is no reason to think backwards, but I suppose we all do at one time or another. In my mind, everything just seems to tilt backwards, except love. Love always seems to leap forward.

This brings me to the title and purpose of this book: Love leaps forward, but time tilts backwards!

This narrative of our life story was especially written for this season. As my husband and I reminisce over our years together, we realize that times have truly changed. When we look backward, we can remember when love was considered " a many splendored thing." We remember "callow fellows" walking home from school carrying their favorite sweetheart's books. We can still remember a time when a date meant a quick trip to the ice cream parlor or a slow drag on the dance floor. I can even remember young girls spending hours daydreaming and sharing their thoughts with one another about becoming engaged hoping to someday marry that "special" guy. We also remember a time when there was no such thing as same-sex marriage. Marriage was just between one man and one woman. Gone are the days!

What happened? I don't know. Did we paint a false picture of what God intended marriage to be? Did husbands and wives somehow give love and marriage a bad name? Have we spent so much time focusing on negatives that we failed to proclaim the positives? We think so. And we repent because we too are guilty of mishandling one of the God's most precious unions which He honored so much that He compared it to His church. We are sorry for whatever role we played in diminishing God's ordained purpose for male and female and we are forever grateful that we have been redeemed by His love. For in spite of all of the heartaches, hardships and mistakes we encountered in our marriage, we still believe that marriage between a man and a woman is one of God's most cherished possessions.

Therefore, I share our story as a testimony that love between a husband and a wife can remain steadfast even in the worst of times. It is even written to those persons who might have become disillusioned after seeing so many couples give up and "throw in the towel." "Our story" is also written to inspire husbands and wives who may be struggling in their marriages. It is written for those couples who need to hear some encouraging words like, "Hang on in there!!" or : You can make it!" It is written to remind them that God honors marriage. It is also an acknowledgment and declaration to singles and others that in all circumstances of life God's hand of love is ever present.

But most of all, we offer a "Gift of Celebration and Praise" to those husbands and wives who have come to understand their purpose in their God -ordained union and make a daily and conscious effort to stay together. We celebrate those couples, who like us continue to keep the words in mind, "until death do we part."

This is a book of transparency that embraces love and celebrates life as it was, as it is, as it comes and as it goes. For even as time has the tendency to sometimes linger and tilt backwards, love sometimes seems to catch us by surprise and almost take us over the edge. That is why I say, love leaps forward, but time tilts backwards.