August 16th forty-seven years ago fell on a Saturday.  At six in the evening we stood before 300 of our friends and family members to vow before God and in the sight of men that we would remain faithful to each other to the end of our lives.  And thus we entered into the holy estate of matrimony.

August 16th fell on a Tuesday this year.  At 2 p.m. we gathered with a group of our closest friends to celebrate God's grace to us in enabling us to remain true to our marriage vows.  Marriage isn't always easy, but God is always faithful.  A number of years after our wedding, video technology arrived.  We put all our wedding photos, and the reel to reel tape of the ceremony, into a video format.  And that's how we were able to sit out here in Cameroon and "attend" our wedding with our friends.  They were delighted to see a much younger version of ourselves.  They exclaimed over the fact that Mama Alice had made her lovely wedding dress, and her going away outfit.  They loved the picture of Papa Jim feeding Mama Alice a bite of wedding cake.  They couldn't believe how skinny we both were back then.

And then we traipsed back downstairs to enjoy the wedding feast.  The first time around we served our guests wedding cake, coffee, tea, punch, nuts, and fancy candies.  That's how it was done back in the day.  This time around we ate and ate and ate until we thought we would burst.  And then we polished off the meal with a fancy cake from a local bakery and some yummy ice cream.

We are committed to continue to live out our marriage in the real world, with all the ups and downs of life.  By God's grace alone, we will make it through to the end.