The tent is going up today in Washington, Illinois so my time is limited and my mind is scattered. But I can not neglect to take a moment to honor the love of my life this morning. I have said it before but it really needs to be said again because it is so true, I did not have a clue how much God was blessing me when He gave Kelly Jo to me.
I was a stupid, selfish kid. I had less sense than a chigger and was dumber than a box of rocks. I was carnal and short sighted. I had good intentions but very little self discipline. You may think I am exaggerating and being a little hard on myself but folks that knew me then may wonder why I am sugar coating the truth.
Thank God for His mercy and grace. I could have very easily married somebody with no heart at all to serve God. I could have easily ruined any chance at all to have a family devoted to ministry. But God gave me Kelly Jo. Wow! What a blessing.
Thank you God. And thank you, Kelly Jo, for going along with God's crazy plan for our lives. Thank you for loving me through thick and thin and back to thick again. Thank you for following me every where I go. Thank you for loving me. I love you.
I need to write more but time is pressing me. I was reading last year's post and decided it summed up my feelings nearly perfectly. I am posting an updated version of that. If I was not married to the woman described below I would drop everything and try to talk her into marrying me.
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28 years ago today I made one of the best decisions that I have ever made. We were two messed up kids way back then but we said "I do" and stayed with it. We had a few folks that believed in us and encouraged us and by the grace of God we are here today.
I was too stupid to really know or appreciate all that Kelly Jo would mean to me but thank God I did not stay stupid forever! I am married to the hardest working woman that I know. She labors continually to keep us on the road. She not only does her work but almost every time that I am working on something she is right there handing me tools and keeping encouraged.
Kelly Jo has a servants heart. She loves to serve and people notice that every where we go. She has made the perfect evangelist's wife. She seems tailor made to our lifestyle and our calling. I can not even imagine a better partner for what I do.
She is dedicated to me 100%. She has loved me through thick and thin and back to thick again. She loves me with my weak mind and aging body. She loves me without conditions and affirms her love to me constantly. She has followed me all over this country and to several other countries. When it seems that new doors are opening in other places she is ready and willing to go.
She lives in a 45x8 foot home on wheels and works hard to make it doable. I will not tell you how many run down rent houses she has helped me clean and move into. For the last 11 years she has lived in an RV. She does not have a garden, porch, shade tree or walk-in closet. She misses birthdays, weddings and funerals of family members on a regular basis.
She lives on other people's schedules, eats what they want to eat and entertains friends when she would rather be alone. She is in church over 350 times a year and most of those times she is playing the piano, singing and carrying the weight of the altar service.
Most every anniversary and birthday of her own she is in revival, campmeeting or youth camp. I have never heard her complain about it one time. I know some good ladies that would throw a fit or sulk if they did not get a special day or at least a special meal on their birthday or anniversary. Not Kelly Jo. To my shame, she has worked nearly every one.
She loves God and loves living for Him. She has no complaints about any thing God requires of us or her as an individual! Her relationship with God is real.
She is so beautiful! I could not take my eyes off her years ago but I can not believe how beautiful she is today. She is gorgeous and she is all mine. Isn't that amazing? Yes, Davy, that is absolutely positively amazing!
Yes, we were a mess 28 years ago today. We were scared to death. I was 18 and Kelly Jo was 4 days away from being 17. We were 2 kids on a collision course with real life. There was no way for us to win. No way for us to win and in the back of our minds we knew it. But we are winning. Hallelujah, we are winning and having a blast doing it.
God used my dear little wife to pull me through. She pulled me through the early years of our marriage. She pulled me through when I could have been destroyed. She pulled me through when I had NO confidence in myself. I am saved and preaching today because Kelly Jo was and is a good, Godly and wise woman!
She was a blond headed little girl when I first noticed her. I could not have known how happy that little girl, all grown up, would make me.
I love you, Kelly Jo! Sorry about your luck but I think your stuck! Happy Anniversary. I hope you have a wonderful day. Mine was wonderful the moment I woke up next to you!
Hope you all enjoy the pictures....
Davy
June 29, 1985
Wait For it....
