Dereham Baptist Church, 25th August 1979

We look so young and in love - and we hadn't a clue about what the future would hold. The past forty years have been amazing - full of love, life and laughter- as well as tears, heartache and pain - better, worse , richer, poorer, sickness, and health.
When Bob was at Theological College I came across these words by a brave, wise German. They have become very special to me over the years.

"Your home will be a pastor’s home. From it, light and strength will have to go out into many other homes. The pastor undertakes a life of special discipline. The husband must bear alone much that belongs to his ministry, since the ministry is his and must, for the sake of God, be a silent one. So his love for his wife must be all the greater, and he must be all the more concerned to share with her what he may. And as a result the wife will be able to lighten the husband’s burden all the more, stand by his side, give him help. As fallible human beings, how can they live and work in Christ’s community if they do not persevere in constant prayer and forgiveness, if they do not help each other to live as Christians? The right beginning and daily practice are very important indeed.
From the first day of your wedding till the last the rule must be: ‘Welcome one another… for the glory of God’. That is God’s word for your marriage. Thank Him for it; thank Him for leading you thus far; ask Him to establish your marriage, to confirm it, sanctify it, and preserve it. So your marriage will be ‘for the praise of His glory’. Amen."

[from "A wedding sermon from a prison cell" written in 1943 by Dietrich Bonhoeffer]

Thank you, Bob, for these forty years of serving God together.