What God Joined Together

The fact that I lived in six towns and attended fourteen schools before I met my wife, prepared me for a life of transitions, but I just wasn’t sure about her.  She had lived in one town and three houses all her pre-college years.  Could she handle six towns, fourteen houses, plus travel to all fifty states, every Canadian Province, and fifty-nine countries?  Not only has she done it, she turned out to love it, except that in many places, she didn’t want to leave so soon.  Last week was a delight for her.  Of all the places we have been, Germany ranks way up toward the top.  Joanne even claimed and proved to have distant relatives in Germany.  So last week was extra special for her.  We took my Teaching Assistant Andreas and his wife Anna out to dinner and then to our house for dessert and fellowship – actually, lots of talk about Germany, since that is their home country. Two nights later we hosted IMB Missionaries who live in Bonn, Germany and who have been serving as Missionary Guest Professors at SWBTS this semester. Again, lots of talk about Germany, especially since I taught for a semester sabbatical plus a few short-term sessions at the Bible Seminary in Bonn. As we approach our sixtieth wedding anniversary this summer, and as our globe-trotting begins to slow down, I give thanks that God matched me with a wife who not only loved to travel but has made friends all over the globe. I am extremely grateful that “what God . . .  joined together” (Matthew 19:5) has been a delightfully good thing.