Pat and I recently celebrated fifty years of marriage.  It is a time I never thought I would see.  But since that day, my heart has welled up again and again in praise and thanksgiving to the Lord for His wonderful provision in giving Pat to me for my wife.

    We met September 8, 1949, at a preschool Baptist Student Union retreat at Piney Woods Baptist Encampment near Corrigan, Texas.  I was “taken” with her immediately, and it didn’t take me long to begin to love her deeply.  Although it took her longer to reciprocate my love, she finally did, and accepted my proposal of marriage on Easter Sunday night, April 9, 1950.  We were married in the Riverside Baptist Church in Houston, Texas, on August 25, 1950.

    We had very little of this world’s goods.  I had to borrow a car to go on our weekend honeymoon to Galveston.  We set up housekeeping in a garage apartment on Dowling Street, with mostly old and/or borrowed furniture and appliances.  But we were rich in love for one another and for the Lord who brought us together.  And we were filled with hope as we set out to serve Him with our lives.

    God called me to preach in 1947, so when we met I was already preaching every chance I got.  I became a pastor in October of that first year.  I have never had the idea that we were “co-pastors,” but from the beginning we were a team.  It was not simply my work.  We were in it together.  She has always been very much a part of all I have done in the ministry over these years.  Even today, in semi-retirement, she is a vital part of everything.

    Whenever I read in Genesis how God purposed to create a help “meet” (fit, or suitable) for the man, I think of Pat and how God did exactly that for me.  I could not ask for any woman who would more perfectly complement me than Pat has done.  I honor her as my wife, the mother of our four sons, my partner in ministry, my lover, and my friend.

    Several years ago when we purchased a car, the license plate read, TKW - 20X.  I memorized it easily.  Pat’s maiden name was Kissel, so I said, “That Kissel Woman - 20 Times more than I deserve.”

    I salute you, My Love.    TKW - 20X.