This month, The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage, wife Martha, and her amazing husband will celebrate 54 years of marriage.
I can’t believe how fast the time has gone. It only seems like yesterday we married.
As a young person, I had no qualities when it came to dating. Until I met this young woman, I’d never dated in my life. My parents planted the seed in my mind that most girls had cooties.
I met her the first day of Bible college, but I tried to dismiss it because it was just the first day. We crossed paths almost every day for classes.
Then one of the guys in the dorm invited me to go out with him and his girlfriend for dinner. He said his sister would be coming along if I didn’t mind. Well, I didn’t mind, so we went out together. Guess who it was?
That was the beginning. Slowly, we began seeing each other, and then one day it hit me like a ton of bricks. I started thinking maybe I was dating a girl for the very first time. It took me some time to get over that thought, and it made me wonder about things.
What if, and I thought about this very seriously, she expected me to kiss her? Maybe I should begin practicing kissing. I didn’t know how to do it, and I sure wasn’t going to ask anybody in the dorm about it.
One morning, I walked into the bathroom and looked in the mirror, and there I saw it. I could practice kissing using the mirror.
I’d always heard practice makes perfect, and so I practiced, and practiced, and practiced. I had no confidence I’d perfected any kissing.
Keeping to my diligence, I practiced day after day. I had to be careful I didn’t get caught, because how would I explain what I was doing? Some things are better left secret.
As our dating got a little more serious, I got a little more nervous. There was going to come a time when she’d expect me to give her a kiss good night. Oh boy. How do you fix such a situation in life?
Even now, I’m not exactly sure when it happened. But there was one date I took her to the women’s dorm, walked her to the door, and before I knew it, we’d kissed.
I still don’t know if I kissed her or she kissed me. The only thing I remember was a woozy feeling.
I must say all that practice didn’t prepare me for what I expected to happen. The more I practiced, the less prepared I was.
A verse of Scripture came to mind along this line. The Apostle Paul writes in 2 Timothy:
“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
— 2 Timothy 2: 15
In my life I’e learned that preparation and practice is important. I personally like the phrase, “a workman that needeth not to be ashamed.”
I need to work at my life and not assume things will be OK. I need to prepare my heart for what God has next for me.
Dr. Snyder is a former pastor who lives with the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage, wife Martha, in Ocala, Fla. His email is [email protected].
