Who ARE those people???

Today, November 3^rd, is the 23^rd anniversary of the day I became Mrs. David Perine! So that explains who those people are in the photos! About 7 years ago, we had a Super Bowl party here for the church youth group, and one of the girls said to me, “Miss Annette, I didn’t know you were married before you married Mr. Dave!” I had no idea what this girl was talking about!!! I told her no, I had never married anyone other than Dave, but she didn’t believe me because she said there was a picture hanging on the wall in the den of me and someone else getting married. No matter how many photos I showed her, she wouldn’t believe that the man in the picture was “Mr. Dave.” Now of course I was completely flattered that she had no doubt that it was me in the picture…but for the life of me I couldn’t understand why she didn’t recognize Dave. He looked exactly the same to me, except for the hair color and the mustache! I still don’t see the difference, to me he’s still the same adorable guy with the great smile.

But the fact of the matter is, we aren’t the same people as the ones in these pictures…thank God for that! Literally! Those two people were alright, they had a lot going for them, they were cute, and spontaneous, and fun…all the things our kids think we’re not anymore! We had all the makings of what we are today. But first of all, there are TWO standing there...Dave and Annette. And now there is ONE…Dave, Annette, and Christ.

I often say the secret to the success of our marriage is an agreement we made during the first few months of our marriage…Dave would never have to iron clothes, and I would never have to mow the lawn, but we would share everything else! And so far, 23 years later, we’ve stuck to it. To this day, Dave would clean the bathroom if I asked him, he helps with the laundry and dishes. I’ll take out the trash, do home improvement projects and fix broken appliances. Our marriage was always good, but it really took off after we became Christians. In many ways we are still who we each married, but in a transformed way. We have a depth of commitment that can only come from doing marriage God’s way. Is it perfect? No, of course not. But the mutual respect that comes from parenting God’s way, doing ministry together God’s way, and putting God first is something I would have never even imagined possible 23 years ago. That’s the real secret to success.

When Dave and I were dating, we found we liked a lot of the same music, some that not many of our friends were into. One of the bands we both really liked was “Chicago” which was unusual because at that point they were way past their heyday. We adopted a couple of their songs as “our songs” that first summer we dated, “Beginnings” and “Just You and Me.” When we were planning our wedding, we were at a loss as to what song to play for our “first dance” because neither of those songs really worked, and we couldn’t come up with anything else we liked. Then one day we were in the car and a song came on the radio that we had never heard before. We recognized that the band playing the song was Chicago, and midway through the song, we knew we had found OUR song! It was "You're the Inspiration." A brand new Chicago song just in time for our wedding! I felt that way about Dave then, and I still do now!

So today my joy comes from the 23 years I have been married to the man I know God created just for me!

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work:

If one falls down, his friend can help him up.

But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!

Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.

But how can one keep warm alone?

Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves.

A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

-Ecclesiastes 4:9-12