Dr. Preacher II

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Another class closer to Dr Preacher.

Just completed Advanced Family And Marital Counseling. And just started my research project for my D-Min. It will be about a two year endeavor researching and writing about the effects of premarital counseling on divorce, and how a potential mentoring program for the church might help prepare engaged and newly wed couples for the issues that wreck many marriages. Prevention. Many ladies have worked out the minutest detail of their wedding by the time they enter adolescences; much less before some shlub asks “will you?” Yet, in all that planning of perfect dresses and seven tiered cakes, they neglect to plan for what to do when they face financial trouble, mother-in-law conflicts, and (shhhhh) sexual issues. (For him, consider the analogy of proper automotive maintenance: counseling likened to oil changes and tire rotation. i.e. preventative maintenance now is far less costly that repairs later!) However this analogy breaks down by gender, the point is the necessity of starting the marriage out right. Mentoring can help alleviate the troubles that married couples experience in those critical first five years.

The end will justify the time, energy, and effort that I will put into the task. But, please pray for me as I negotiate the aspects of writing a formal research project.

Twenty Three Years And Counting

Today is my wedding anniversary. Despite the fact I earn my living with the dispensation of words, I'm not much on prose. But let me tell you about what this day means anyway.




23 years ago Patty Anderson woke up a single woman. Within eight hours, she had become Patty Leigh. Well, they say hind sight is twenty-twenty and all that...but looking back, I can say I wouldn't blame her if she would want to change her mind about that day. It has been rocky at times. Four states, about 20 moves, 7 jobs, the loss of a child, and at least a million tears later, who could blame her?



But here we are twenty-three years down the road and we are more blessed and happy than at any time in our lives. We have given our youth, dreams, money, and health to be right here. And while at times it has been tough, it has never been a question that we would make it to this day, and beyond.



To say that I love Patty, this woman that God put into my life and made my best friend, would be to do an injustice to the relationship that we have. Love fails to capture the true essence of what we have. And while it may sound kitschy or cliché, the only phrase I can think of is soul-mate. We have become...no, we are... so close that our souls have intertwined, and we have become, as the Bible says, one flesh. What we do, we do for each other as if it were for ourselves. I know, I know, it sounds like circular logic, but it is not. It is something you can only experience, not be told about in writing.

My prayer for every couple is that their love be as true, as sacrificial, and as eternal as ours. Some couples are married for 50 or 60 years. We will be side by side in heaven, my darling, forever. I have no doubt that whatever form August 4th takes in eternity, we will know that day! And anniversary cake in heaven (Angel Food Cake?) will be divine and calorie free! I look forward to spending my life and after-life with you.



Patricia Dawn Anderson LEIGH. You are my BRIDE, you are MY bride, and I love you dearly. And as for me...well, I woke up this morning, twenty some years later, more in love with you, and happier with you on my arm today, than I could have ever imagined was possible in 1990.



Happy Anniversary, Baby. I-heart-You.