Discovering the Real Jesus in Monroe

This Saturday, August 11, Linda and I celebrate 34 years of marriage together. Linda is simply the most beautiful person I have ever met. Here’s a picture of us back around the time we were married, in the 70s. To me Linda hasn’t changed very much, but when I look in the mirror I sure have. One Sunday morning I showed this picture to our church family. Immediately, they recognized Linda, but many of them couldn’t believe the guy she was with was me.

About my clothes. If you lived in the early 70s you’d have loved the pants I am wearing and would have died for them. Back then pants like this were tight, cool, sick.

About my hair. That’s how real men wore their hair. I wish I had this hair now.

The flower on my shirt? That was another manly thing back in the early 70s, kind of like William Wallace going to battle in a skirt.

Linda and I met as undergraduates at Northern Illinois University. We got married at the end of our junior years. We had no money, one picture hanging on the white wall of our apartment, a Pontiac Bonneville that I bought for a hundred bucks that got 7-8 miles per gallon on the highway, and we had Jesus and each other and a lot of great friends.

We’re going to spend part of our anniversary day at the Jazz Festival in Monroe.