My Life's Companion
April 21, 2004

I am blessed.

On June 5, Isaura and I will have been married twenty-eight years. Now, that's not any record or anything, but it sure means a lot to me. In my church in Ripon, two or three couples have been married more than sixty years. Nevertheless, these twenty-eight years that Isaura and I have shared are our years.

All couples go through difficulties in their marriage relationship, and that's to be expected. After all, you take two imperfect people who then try to make a perfect marriage! That's a challenge under the best of circumstances.

When I met Isaura, we were both students at San Jose State University in California. I had already attended college before my four years as an enlisted Marine, which included a tour in Vietnam. I liked women well enough, I just was not sure I wanted to have one around permanently. I had avoided allowing any relationship to get to the commitment level. Good thing I didn't. I had only been a Christian for two years and was still trying to figure out this whole business of having a personal relationship with God.

Before trusting Christ as my Savior on September 8, 1972, I was living a very selfish life. I was only interested in me, and the self-gratification I could experience. It is not my intention to dwell on my past at this point. However, that I was a sergeant in the Marines, trying to live up to an image I thought was befitting, should suffice. I soon discovered that God was greater than I could have ever imagined.

I was only too aware that I was not marriage material. The singular event of giving my life to Jesus changed all that. So, at age twenty-four, the Lord began the process of conforming me into his image. It has been a thirty-two year process, but let me quickly add that Jesus is still working on me every day. I am so grateful that he never tires of laboring in my life. I am not anywhere near as patient with myself as he is with me. He has promised to finish the work he began to do in me.

When I met Isaura, I knew without a shadow of a doubt that the Lord chose to bless me with her as my life's companion.

I remember as a kid listening to the stereo system my parents had. They would play the old 33 1/3 records of the Ink Spots, the Mills Brothers, Tommy Dorsey, Glen Miller, Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman and the rest. What great music that was! There was a song the Mills Brothers sang called, "Be My Life's Companion." The lyrics started out like this, "Be my life's companion and you'll never grow old." Well, I couldn't make so bold a promise, but one thing I was sure of — I wanted to grow old with her!

Isaura and I are as different as two people can possibly be. I was born in New England with parents from Texas. Isaura was born on the island of San Miguel, the Azores, Portugal. She was raised Catholic in a Catholic country. I was raised with no particular religious belief system; my parents, in regard to matters of faith, allowed us kids to decide for ourselves what to believe once we grew up. I come from a strongly patriotic family that has served in practically every war in our nation's history. Isaura knew next to nothing about the military, whether it was the U.S. military or the Portuguese military. I love to be outside hiking, playing golf, going for a drive, or camping. My wife's idea of camping is a suite at the Hilton, with a bathtub!

In all of this, I am simply trying to tell you how very much I love my wife. I could not begin to imagine life without her. And I am so grateful to the Lord for allowing me the privilege and honor of sharing my life with her.

My military obligations have often required us to be separated for extended periods. I am often asked how Isaura handles this. Next week, I will share with you how both of us cope with the uncertainty of enforced separations.