PASTOR CECIL'S DAILY E-VOTIONAL - MY TRIBUTE TO MY WIFE JOYCE!

MY TRIBUTE TO THE VITAL PART OF MY LIFE—MY WIFE!

After all of these years, how can I begin to explain the love I shared with Joyce? I began to discover the meaning of love when we were young and full of life. 

As near as I can recall, it was Sunday, August 22, 1948, in Nampa, Idaho, when I first saw Joyce. Sunday School class was about to start, and as usual, I was sitting next to my lifelong friend, Jerry, when the door of that classroom opened and Joyce stepped in with her sister. She was wearing a white and yellow dress that set off her pitch black hair. At that moment it seemed like my heart stopped beating. I turned to Jerry and said, “She’s the one!” I didn't even know what that meant, but I knew that with one look she had stolen my heart.

A few weeks later there was a potluck dinner for several families who had moved from Camas, Washington, to Nampa.  With my heart in my throat, I asked Joyce if she would like to go with me. I was sure that someone with her beauty and class would never have eyes for a clod like me. Amazingly she said yes! Learned I later that when we left the house that evening, her mother commented, “Just look at those two babies!”

That was to be the opinion of almost everyone back then. At just fourteen years of age we appeared to be too young to know what love was, but we did! Nat King Cole had a hit song back then that became ours. It seemed to perfectly express our situation: “They Try to Tell Us We’re Too Young.” It became our song. It goes like this:

“They try to tell us we're too young, too young to really be in love; They say that love's a word, a word we've only heard but can't begin to know the meaning of. And yet we're not too young to know, this love will last though years may go, and then some day they may recall, we were not too young at all.”

Too Young by Nat King Cole
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8DQaUoPmJg

Looking back from this vantage point, I am amazed that our parents allowed to date. That flicker of tender teenage love only grew stronger through our high school years. Other classmates would date for a time and then part for a new romance. But all the while, good ole Cec and Joyce never parted.

I still remember the sweet times we spent sharing our dreams with each other. Contrary to many modern couples, we waited to consummate our love until after we were married.

Our wedding night was special in so many ways.  It was blistering hot and our pastor was out of town, so a college professor performed the ceremony. A prankster made an attempt to steal the keys of the car taking us on our honeymoon, but the plot failed. Our driver had a duplicate key and away we went. Love prevailed. We were now beginning our wonderful new life as husband and wife.

Within a few months I enlisted in the Air Force and we experienced our first taste of military life. It gave us an opportunity to see places and meet people who became dear friends.

It was during our assignment in Rapid City, South Dakota that our dear Brenda was born. Oh, how I long to see her and Joyce once again. The next time will be in eternity and there will be no sorrow, pain, or separation. I will see them healthy and happy beyond imagination.  

Our next two children, Dan and Lori, were both born in Nampa, Idaho. They have been such source of joy to me. Even in the trials of life they have shown love and respect and have always commented about the love they saw in their parents.

I am not sure when Joyce and me crossed the line from being young people to middle age people, to mature people, to elderly people, but in every age we have passed through, we have loved each other completely.

Sensual love is something that novelists have tried to portray, but our love has been far deeper. During the darkest days of trial and testing, we have known the love of Jesus and the love of each other.

We have shed our tears at the passing of our precious Brenda and then through the transplant surgeries of our dear Lori. What a gift of love from Brenda’s daughter and our granddaughter, Jenna, who gave one of her kidneys to her aunt Lori. That is keeping it in the family

Not only have we shared our love for each other, we have felt that love surround us. We thank everyone for their love.

Across these years I have seen the beautiful woman I first saw as a fourteen-year-old beauty who captured my heart on a morning, grow more and more feeble. But her beauty and loveliness has never faded from my sight.

They say that your memory is going to gradually recede as you grow older. But with my precious Joyce it was slipping far too rapidly. Many of her comments were just a little out of context. The doctors confirmed that she was suffering from dementia with Lewy bodies. We had never even heard of such an ailment before, but were now living with it.

For the past few months, I knew that we were losing her. Many times I would awaken and just gaze at her as she slept. She was placed on hospice and a hospital bed was set up in the living room. I would set beside her bed I look over the face of the gorgeous woman who has been beside me these many years.

We both knew the time was running out.  In our quiet moments we tried to share just how precious we had been to each other. Not long ago Joyce paid me the highest honor a wife could give a husband when she said, “Honey, you are love personified!” 

I will always be that for you, Dear One. I LOVE YOU DEARLY! Wait for me, I still have work to do here on earth.

Your devoted husband, Cec

Janurary 13th, 2015 at 8:45 AM , Joyce ended her journey here on earth. She has shown us a godly pattern of caring and sharing. Now it is time for us to fill the gap she leaves.

NOTE FROM PASTOR CECIL

WHAT DO I DO NOW?

As I prayerfully face this new phase of my life I know that I will continue to do the things God has called me to do. I will be the best father possible to our son and his wife, our daughter, our grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

I will be faithful to the calling God has given me as a Pastor and writer. I will strive every way possible to be God’s servant. I refuse to feel sorry for myself. There are many needy hearts and I purpose to meet the needs as best I can.