Date: 5/26/2009
<br>Author: Devin Pickard
<br>Title: Where has the time gone?
<br><br>It's time to put your thinking caps on ..... What do Pat Sajak, Reba McEntire, George Clooney, Delta Burke, David Hasselhoff, Noami Judd, Michael Jordan, Mary Hart, Jon Bon Jovi and Devin Pickard all have in common?  I know some of you might be guessing some type of MVP award, or perhaps  an Emmy or Grammy ..... and as good as all those guesses would be, you would sadly be incorrect on all fronts.  No, the commonality between us all is the fact that we walked down the proverbial aisle in the same year, 1989.  Now, I cannot tell you if the folks above are still wed to the other person they walked down that white aisle-runner with, but I am very happy to say that I am.  Angie (Burton) and I were joined as husband and wife by my buddy Greg Worthey on May 28, 1989, in the auditorium of the Twomey Church of Christ.  Like most of the marriages of my generation and since, the statistics would say that we were already behind the eight-ball with regards to having any chances of surviving very long at all. <br><br><br>A couple married in the year 1980 was expected to stay that way on the average of some 37 years.  Fast forward to today and the average life of a marriage is in the neighborhood of 24 years, with some statisticians putting that number even as low as 7-10 years.  I suppose that most of us go into this blissful relationship with rose colored glasses on.  In many ways, marriage is like jumping into water without knowing how to swim ..... you just have to quickly learn how to survive as you go along.  No doubt, there have been many good and informative books written on the “art of marriage”, but there is really nothing that can completely prepare you for life with a new mate.  One thing is for sure, the  mountains and valleys will be treacherous, numerous and often.  I came across some pretty good thoughts on marriage recently that I would like to share with you .....<br><br>“Only two things are necessary to keep one's wife happy. One is to let her think she is having her own way, the the other, to let her have it.”  (Lyndon Johnson)<br><br>“A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person.” (McLaughlin)<br><br>“I first learned the concepts of non-violence in my marriage.”  (Gandhi)<br><br>“The goal in marriage is not to think alike, but to think together.”  (Robert Dodds)<br><br>The first step of the 20 year journey seems like it was just yesterday ..... but now 3 kids and a few less hairs later, (me, not Angie), we are still hanging in there.  Like most, we still have our ups and downs, but now it seems the ups by far outweigh the downs.  I suppose she finally gave up on trying to change me and has just settled for what she has  :-)  Most of all, though, I think this ..... we have both tried to keep God as the central figure-head in our family.  The Bible tells us that through Christ we can do all things (Philippians 4:13) ..... which can certainly be applied to having a happy, successful marriage ..... or at least it has worked for us.  Happy Anniversary Tater-Head ..... I Love You.        <br>               <br><br>Trying to go the extra mile for 20 more years - Devin<br><br>