They arrived on Friday evening with bags, crutches and hugs. Then the celebrations began. Gail and Marilyn, our friends from Idaho and members of our morning bible study, had arrived from Omaha where they were visiting at their daughter's home. How excited we were to welcome them to our Iowa world after having hosted them in Texas several years ago.
We spent Friday evening and all day Saturday sharing, laughing, praying, eating and enjoying one another. Gail had sprained a ligament in his left ankle, so his mobility was somewhat limited. However, he had no difficulty climbing up our stairs on his hands and knees, and then descending on his backside. It was wonderful that he cleaned our steps for us!
Gail and Marilyn had traveled to Omaha to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary at their daughter's with friends from Nebraska. On Sunday, they gathered for a Mass, food and festivities with about 20 family and friends. To prepare for that event, they came to visit us. While with us, we helped them write their renewal of marriage vows, expressing what they truly wanted to from their hearts. For some pictures of that gala event, go to Greetings From Nebraska: Anniversary Mass & Party.
After spending this sacred time with them, I am able to say that I have truly seen God. When two people as different as Gail and Marilyn can come together in marriage and remain together for this many years, it is due to one thing only, the Spirit of God. Only God could take two human beings with such different personalities and temperaments and make them one while at the same time respecting those differences.
When Philip came to Jesus and said: "Show us the Father. Then it will be enough for us"...Jesus responded: "To have seen me is to have seen the Father" (John 14:8, 9). In other words, God is present in concrete form in Jesus.
Today Jesus would respond: "To see Gail and Marilyn is to see the Father." They are the concrete form of God in our midst today. For that we are grateful, to God for his fidelity and to Gail and Marilyn for their response to God's movement of grace over these many years.
My Love and I are most grateful to them for choosing to share part of that celebration with us. It gave us the opportunity to present them with a print out of the blog that I had written about them last May, along with all the responses of those who love them. Their Witness to Love is an encouragement and a sacrament to us of God's goodness and faithfulness. As God has kept his promise to them, so he will also do for us. And for all of you.
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