Tara Lyn Lavy said “I do” to this simple boy 13 years ago today, May 28, 1994. I cannot believe how good God was in joining us together. She truly is God’s blessing and completes me.
We began this journey with a first date on October 12, 1991, attending the Arkansas Razorbacks football homecoming game. I remember that I unwittingly underdressed (but thankfully she overlooked that), took her to Chili’s for a rushed lunch before the game, loved driving away from the game together in terrible traffic, as we talked for what seemed like hours, quoting Psalm 34 (and maybe Psalm 62 and 63 and some of 2 Timothy) to her, and then meeting her parents for dinner at Goldie’s. We continued dating, mostly on and a tiny bit off, until our wedding day.
As we just this past year went from “living the American dream” to becoming missionaries, we look back on our first couple of years together prior to marriage fondly, remembering that we went on three mission trips and greatly desired to do mission work and ministry. We don’t know how or why we lost that first love other than to say that we let the cares of the world choke it out. That nearly killed us, but God’s grace to deliver us to where we are now is truly amazing.