I saw them in the corner of my eye. Seated side by side in a booth at the restaurant where I had stopped to get a take-out order for mine and Monieca’s dinner, she slowly lifted a spoon filled with food to his mouth. His frame was small and age had taken such a toll on them that at first I didn’t recognize them. It had been a few years since I’d last seen them and I was surprised at his condition.

When they finished their meal we spoke for a moment about family, then they began making their way to the exit. Seconds later my food was ready and I turned to leave. She was holding his arm as they walked and we arrived at the door at the same time. I held it open as she led him outside.

As I walked toward my car I overheard her speaking to him. Her words were positive and her tone was soft. “We’re just going to walk straight ahead from here…the car’s right over there” she assured him.

Pulling out of my parking space I saw her tenderly helping him into the passenger side of the small pickup she was driving. She was still smiling at him.

The traditional wedding vows include the words “in sickness and in health, till death do us part.” This couple in their golden years…this woman who years earlier had been a strong leader of men and women…now embodied the true meaning of those words. They were demonstrating what it means to be in love.

Over the years I’ve been privileged to witness a few examples of such love and yesterday I was blessed to see it again. Such love is not selfish. It sacrifices and endures. It is tender and serves. When divorce happens, it is because one or both partners never learned what true love is.

Driving home I prayed for this woman and man…this wife and husband. Then I prayed for myself and my wife. Finally I prayed for the young couples in our church, many of whom have not yet learned what love really is.

Pastor Steve Hogg