Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad Everts!

This post is a day late, however, it took a lot of thought and time to get exactly right. I hope that it is a fitting tribute to parents that deserve nothing less.

Yesterday, July 11, was my(AJ's) parents 30th Anniversary. I am so proud of them and hope that they know it. They will be going to St. Lucia in a few weeks to celebrate, which I'm sure will be a great time! Jeff and I were talking about what it takes to make a marriage last that long - and we pulled insight from both of our families (his parents will be married 30 years in 2012).

We know that hard work is a definite factor in a long marriage. Both of our families dealt with long separations while our father's served in the military. Our mother's worked and took care of the house and kids - and made sure that our dad's still knew they were loved and missed. When we were all at home, there were disagreements, but they never meant the end of the road - they meant discussions, sometimes fights, and eventually, compromise.

Love is also a factor. However, I'm not just talking about the romantic love that we so often focus on when discussing relationships. I'm talking about Agape love - the love that comes from our Heavenly Father. Agape love loves even when the person doesn't like what someone else is doing, it loves when there is a disagreement or hurt. Agape love means that no matter what, that love is not going anywhere. Seeing each other through Agape love takes on a whole different meaning that romantic love. That's the kind of love that is talked about in the Bible (1 Cor. 13) when it says, "Love is patient, love is kind..."


These are just two parts that are the tip of the iceberg. There is so, so much underneath that. Jeff and I are setting aside time in the coming weeks to continue our pre-marriage Bible study and I hope we will learn and discuss so much more. We both know our love is here to stay, no matter what may come. I can't wait to be able to look back in 30 years and know that we have been through it all together.

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad. I wish you so many more years of happiness and joy with each other!