From First Date to Forever: A Lifetime of Laughter, Love, and Faith
A testimony of a love that has stood the test of time, weathered storms, and remained unshakable amid life's challenges
I met Betty back in 1972, and we had our first date. I knew I liked her right off the bat. She was beautiful, kind, and very quiet. We had our first date in December and were married in August 1973.
Betty was everything a man could want in a wife. She had recently been saved. She loved Jesus and people, and kindness poured out of every pore.
We married, and I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I will never forget how wonderful it felt to get to our little duplex and just be us. I was so relaxed. I could trust her. She believed in me, and I believed in her.
I received my first chance at a full-time ministry that October. Betty was the perfect coworker. Austin and Betty, Betty and Austin, we were everywhere together. We had a blast.
Now, it is 51 years later. That is a long time, but to me, it doesn’t seem like it. We have been through a lot. We have started several churches, worked in several ministries, started Bible Colleges and mission organizations, and given our lives to serving others.
God has given us four wonderful children, all of whom love and serve God. He has given us 20 grandchildren and a great-granddaughter, and three of our grandchildren have married and brought their loved ones into our family fold.
God has allowed us to live with little and much, with and without, in and out. We have been on the top and know what it is to be on the bottom, but we have done it all together.
If there is a person in the world that I can trust with all my heart and everything, it is Betty. She has been my very best friend, loving and helpful wife, mother of my children, grandmother of my grandchildren, and now great-grandmother. She has been an example in and through it all.
Today, we celebrate 51 years of marriage and just under 52 years of friendship. It has been so worth it.
We have a granddaughter who will get married next month. I wish for her what God has allowed me to experience.
Together, we have a lifetime of shared memories and experiences. Our friendship has endured every test that has come our way. We know unconditional love and support.
We have grown old together, and she has been by my side through horrible illnesses, from COVID to cancer. God has given us an extraordinary and strong family bond.
Thank you, Betty, for being a constant source of emotional support, for sharing the difficulties of life, and for being a person I can rely on.
God has allowed us to grow in grace and understanding Him and His love.
One thing has always been true: where Betty is, that is home. Whenever my vehicle turns toward home, it speeds back to the love, the security, the one that has made such a difference in my life.
