Because I Said So

We were very young. Babies, really. But on January 8, 1972 Barbara Jean Halliday married Robert Edward Larson and so began a union that celebrates its 40th anniversary this year.

My parents, and a lot of other people if the truth be told, thought that we, at 19 and 21 years of age, were really too young to make a decision such as this. But who’s going to tell a woman two months shy of 20 that she doesn’t know her own mind?

I’d been raised by two “because I said so” kind of people who stressed obedience, honesty, integrity and doing what you said you’d do. So, on that day four decades ago when I said “I do,” I did. And fortunately, Bob did, too. In this era of 72-day marriages and quickie divorces, our marriage endures today.

Though life hasn’t been a picnic every single day, we have had plenty of them: three beautiful daughters, a great son-in-law, two precious grandsons, opportunities to travel, wonderful homes—and the blessings go on. Along the way there have also been lots of ants at those picnics...and rain-outs...and stormy days when no one was even dreaming of a picnic.

Several years ago a young friend was preparing for her own wedding. She blissfully related to me that she and her beloved had never had even an inkling of an argument and surely never, ever would. Sadly, that marriage ended in divorce. Harsh words do come. Misunderstandings happen. We are all born with a sin nature, and boy, do we let it show! We are selfish. We want our own way. We want what we want when we want it.

People change, too. Over the course of a relationship some folks become more assertive. Some grow weary, some depressed. Some develop new interests their partner doesn’t share. Many find that pesky number on the scale creeping ever upward while their wardrobe starts to shrink (!). In the late 90’s I was showing a woman around our home. Perplexed, she scrutinized the photo of two grinning newlyweds displayed above our bed. “Who are these people?” she asked. Really? We’d “matured” so much she couldn’t tell?

Sometimes we can’t tell, either. It’s a wonder God can. But He promises to always love us, always care for us and always be there for us, no matter what we do, no matter how we act, no matter how we change. His is a “Because I said so” kind of love and God can not lie. His word is gold. In John 10:27-30, Jesus, Who we know is also God, says, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”

God promised me forever. Because of that, and with His help, Bob & I could make promises, too: ‘”until death do us part.” After all, he, and I, said so.