OUR 48TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY

Christine and I sat at White Rock Beach this morning, with muffins and coffee to reminisce while we enjoyed an early summer morning. We looked back 48 years to another August 12th when we dressed as finely as we could and together with our families we met friends assembled at Calvary Church in St. Catharines, Ontario. There Rev. James Vold officiated for us a ceremony that permitted us to say to each other, “I will love you for a lifetime.” That day was a happy day for us, memorable, pretty for so many reasons, supported by well wishers, blessed by the LORD.   

Even at my age, it feels like an impossible fact to tell someone that my wife and I are celebrating our 48th Anniversary.  Forty-eight years can be a great deal of history. As we chatted today, we thought about how our culture and societal moralities have changed. We thought about the pressing national and international issues of the Sixties, and we compared them to the pressures of today. We spoke to each other about the struggles, the adjustments, the determination that were required for two people to make it to the 48th anniversary of a mutual commitment. We are thankful that we are here together. We are grateful to have children and grandchildren. We are content that we were able to say loving and respectful goodbyes to both sets of our parents. We are content to have served congregations together with complimentary gifts. We wonder how to make use of the years yet ahead in a responsible and fulfilling way. Always at the beginning and though out our lives, God has factored significantly into plans, choices and actions, and we believe he will again, but we are uncertain how that will play out.

The photos were taken in Montebello Park in St. Catharines. The Wedding Party was comprised of ( L to R) David Langlois, Robert Langlois, Jim Langlois, May Langlois, Ron Unruh, Christine Langlois, Tina Unruh, Edward Unruh, Neale Unruh, Murray Unruh. Both brothers on both sides were as yet unmarried. Both parents on both sides have passed away in recent years. The Church building in which we were married was sold and a new church building constructed elsewhere. The London College of Bible and Missions later merged with Toronto Bible College to become Ontario Bible College (OBC), and much later Tyndale Bible College. I later graduated with a Master of Divinity from Ontario Theological Seminary, the graduate school of OBC, and much later with a Doctor of Ministry from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (Chicago). Christine’s gifting and service was always in music and worship and together we worked in Calvary Bible Church, Smiths Falls; Ferndale Bible Church, Peterborough; Wishing Well Acres Baptist Church, Toronto; Cloverdale Baptist Church, Cloverdale BC. We closed off our formal service life when I was President of the Evangelical Free Church of Canada, a denomination of 150 churches. Christine found a worthwhile ministry to pastors’ wives. We’ve done well. Happy Anniversary to us.