Janet and I grew up together – our parents were best friends… and somehow we just knew that we were to be together – forever… We got engaged on Christmas Eve in 1972 and started to plan our wedding right after that. We picked a wedding date of August 24th, 1973. We decided on a church wedding with a country club reception. The whole experience was terrific.
We started looking at things that we would need to start our life together. That meant registering at many different stores and picking out various patterns of dishes, silverware and colors that we would use for our home. In fact, today I still use a set of mixing bowls we received as a wedding gift 50 years ago when I am preparing things to go on the grill. We also have a set of measuring cups and steak knives that we received around the same time. We use them frequently and it is amazing to me that they have survived, in good form, for half a century!
As was customary back when we got married, we specified fine silver (Grand Victorian) and fine china (Lenox Autumn) as some of the more expensive things we would like to receive for when we entertained in a more formal way. Ultimately, our parents ending up purchasing our entire twelve place settings of silver. However, when it was all over, we had received also four complete sets of Autumn china. In all honesty, I don’t know that we had asked for any more than that, but on hindsight, we should have at least registered for eight place settings. Or, we should have bought them ourselves soon after our wedding… but we didn’t…
So… we have fine silver, crystal glasses and all kinds of extra pieces – but only four place settings of our beloved Autumn china. Throughout the years, it has become something of a conversation piece. In our family, we grew up using the fine china and silver each Sunday evening for dinner at my grandparent’s home. That’s just how it was…
But when you are entertaining, four place settings just doesn’t cut it. So… although it’s difficult to believe, I know, we have NEVER eaten off the fine china… until our 50th anniversary, that is. Throughout the years, it is customary that we have shared a Chicago style pizza for the big events in our lives – New Year’s Eve, big birthdays, etc. So it seemed fitting that we would have a deep dish pizza on our 50th anniversary – served on our fine china! We even broke out the fine silver and crystal goblets. It was strangely wonderful.
Here we are, having kept the china in a cabinet all these years and finally, just last Thursday, we ate on it for the first time. The memories of our wedding came flying back to both of us. It was a very special meal together. We were young, even back then, to be getting married. In fact, we were engaged at nineteen and married at 20. We were so young!
It seems like such a long time ago and yet, in the wink of an eye, it is half a century later. Our verse for tonight comes from the Book of Proverbs, written by King Solomon. This book of wisdom carries many famous quotes, but none seems more appropriate that the one from Proverbs 5:18, where Solomon tells us, “May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.”
That certainly resonates with me tonight. I couldn’t have chosen a better life partner. My encouragement this evening is that God has ordained marriage as a holy institution and actually presided at the first wedding in the Garden of Eden – an outdoor wedding between Adam and Eve. My prayer is that we will have the stamina and commitment to work on our marriages, making them the best they can be, and that God will be honored in the process. Have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…