Today is our 53rd wedding anniversary. Never once since I said "I Do" to him on the evening of March 20, 1971, at Oak Park Baptist Church in Decatur have I doubted that Steve Pearson was the one God created to be my husband.
(In case you haven't known us very long, I did a series of posts leading up to our 50th anniversary celebration telling the story of how we met, fell in love, got engaged and married, then lived for a half century. You can read those posts here, here, here, here, and here).
There were actually quite a few young men (a.k.a. potential marriage candidates) in my life until the age of 20, and I'm glad about that. I know there is a philosophy of not dating until you've found your ONE, but I'm not sure that's realistic. How can you know without spending time with a person and observing how they respond to situations and challenges? How can you know until you see how they treat you, along with the members of their family and their friends? How can you know until you SEE how faith plays a role in how they live their lives?
How can you know without hearing them speak the truth, watching them behave with honesty and integrity, and being assured of their Christian testimony?
I had boyfriends when I was in junior high, but that meant passing notes between classes, sitting beside each other in church, or occasionally talking on the phone. Those relationships were generally short-lived and harmless.
For reasons that still puzzle me and are fairly complicated to explain, I dated the same boy from 10th through 12th grade. We had several classes together as sophomores and became friends. We went to our Junior and Senior Proms together. He gave me a promise ring for Christmas during our senior year, but there were some huge red flags. He always made an excuse when I invited him to our house for a meal or asked him to go to church with me, and he never went to one of my piano recitals. By that time in my life, my sights were set on being accepted to Samford University, specifically to the music school, and I gave several recitals in preparation. It was clearly a big deal to me. We broke up right before graduation.
As you might imagine, my parents were extremely relieved, so much so that my mother encouraged me to date a lot of guys when I got to college. I enjoyed my Samford days tremendously and had a great time going out with a variety of very nice young men. Many were one-time dinner, concert, or movie dates. There were a couple of law students, a few fraternity guys, and a several fellow music majors, but mostly there were preacher boys -- which Samford seemed to be full of. I met one young man when I was serving as the organist at First Baptist Church of Trussville on weekends, and we were pretty serious. But he had just graduated from Vanderbilt and was headed for a tour of duty in Vietnam. The last time we were together, he told me not to wait for him. I shed a lot of tears, but somehow I pulled myself together pretty quickly. Steve asked me out the following weekend, and I never looked back. We were married 8 months later. (Let me insert here that the guy who went to Vietnam came back safely and had a lengthy career as an attorney in Birmingham).
All of the young men I dated had at least one admirable trait. Most had more than one, of course. Many were handsome. From what I could tell, all professed to be Christians. All had bright futures and treated me with respect. A few were funny. A couple were amazing musicians. One or two were interesting conversationalists. Several enjoyed hearing me play the piano. A couple of them went home with me to meet my parents. Several wanted me to meet THEIR parents. Any of them COULD have been a possible husband, but none of them were exactly what I needed or wanted. Until Steve.
Steve Pearson was (and still is) the TOTAL PACKAGE. His commitment to Christ and to the Bible are foremost in his mind and heart. After all these years, I still say he has the world's best smile. He is so handsome, thoughtful, and kind. The way he looks at me still melts my heart.
I have never known Steve to utter a single lie. He is unfailingly honest.
He's smart. His clients have instinctively trusted him from his first days as a veterinarian until now. When I think of Steve's integrity, I'm reminded of the way Jesus described Nathanael in John 1:47 -- "Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, 'Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!'" The King James Version uses the word "guile." Other translations say "no deceit" or "nothing false." That's my husband.
Our children and grandchildren are the luckiest people in the world to have him as their dad and granddaddy. He loves and adores each of them fiercely.
Steve works hard, whether it's at a vet clinic, at church, or in our yard.
Steve loves Auburn (whatever sport they're playing), the outdoors, warm weather, chocolate, and blackberry cobbler. He loves to laugh and makes me laugh often.
I enjoy watching him teach Sunday School. His passion comes through, along with the hours of preparation he has put in.
He has been unwavering in his commitment to me and to our marriage -- a fact I will never take for granted.
We're at the stage in our lives where each day we have together is a gift, and I am so very grateful. I love Steve with all my heart.
HAPPY ANNIVERSITY TO MY FAVORITE PERSON ON EARTH!
1 Chronicles 16:34 -- "Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever."