In a couple of weeks it will be 47 years since I proposed to Wendy and asked her if she would spend the rest of her life with me. I will be 69 towards the end of this year, my Dad died just short of his 72 birthday as that “line in the sand” has been on my mind lately.

There’s something about time ticking away that prompts me, at least, and I suspect you too to think about where you are in terms of the relative ages of people who’ve loved. My Dad’s passing at what is a young age grows in relative importance as I approach that same age. I am not afraid of that, it is just that the value of time increases as you begin to consider that a lifetime does pass quickly.

When we were caught up in the raising of children, had very full jobs, were engaged in the activities of a family with vacations, birthdays, travel, and just the regular getting groceries and doing dental visits, well, you don’t think about this as much. You tend to collapse in bed after a long day with one thought to awaken the next day with enough energy to do it again. That was that chapter of life, this is now.

In reflecting on those days when we were dating I recall how sure I felt that this was right – not that I wasn’t nervous about tying my future to someone I had known for 6 months but I had been praying for years about who I would marry – even though I did not have a name or person in mind I had prayed for Wendy and even as I thought about how we were together, what her strengths were, how our interests aligned, I knew beyond those things that there was a confirmation in my heart that this was right.

I confess I was less articulate about that, but it is how I felt and what I thought.

So here we are now 47 years later. I wonder what our lives will be like in 5, 10, 15 or 20 years if the Lord allows, but I am ever grateful for the insight to begin praying about this when I was just 15 years old.

Parents, encourage your children to pray and don’t be surprised if their prayers are more focused and serious than you might imagine.