Today, Patty and I have been married for 55 years. They have been good years with eight kids, 28 grandkids, and many adventures. We were very different when we got married. Patty was a city girl, and I was a country boy. Patty grew up in a family with two sisters and a Dad that treated them like princesses. My Dad was a male chauvinist through and through. He was the ultimate tough guy and expected us kids to be tough and not fuss or cry about anything; Patty, on the other hand, cried about everything. I would rank our marriage as being the best I have known over the years. I don’t think we have had a fight or argument that lasted more than an hour. Patty has never gotten angry at me in the sense of yelling or throwing a fit. She has cried a lot, and I always give in to that. We talk a lot about choices and decisions, but she has always been 100% supportive and submissive to my leadership and decisions about our future. She was right with me when we left the farm to Pastor Jefferson Baptist Church with 20 people and little income. When I wanted to buy our present house, which was over 100 years old, about to fall down, and full of rats and bats, she was not excited but jumped right in like a tough pioneer woman. Our life of parenting and pastoring has been a true partnership, and success has come into our lives because of our unity and love. We pray together about everything, don’t get angry at each other, we treat each other with respect and honor, forgive quickly, and talk and speak to each other in a way that builds up and doesn’t hurt. It has been a good 55 years with many stories that we love telling our grandkids.