CELEBRATING
ANNIVERSARIES

Topics: Anniversaries; Commitment; Husbands; Love; Marriage; Spouses; Wives

References: Genesis 2:24; Proverbs 18:22; Song of Songs 8:6–7; Mark 10:9; 1 Corinthians 7:10; Ephesians 5:22–33; 1 Peter 3:7

Ralph and Janice were celebrating their fiftieth wedding anniversary, so Pastor Jones asked Ralph to come forward in church and talk about how he had managed to live with the same woman all those years.

Ralph turned to the congregation and said, “Well, I treated her with respect and spent money on her, but mostly I took her traveling on special occasions.”

The pastor asked, “Trips to where?”

“For our twenty-fifth anniversary,” Ralph answered, “I took her to Beijing, China.”

The crowd nodded and murmured in appreciation. When things quieted down, the pastor winked and said, “What a terrific example you are to husbands, Ralph. So, tell us, where are you going now for your fiftieth anniversary?”

Ralph replied, “I’m going to go back and get her.”

—Brett Kays, Brownstown, Michigan