Happy Anniversary, Armona

​June 8, 2025
Reflections from the Heart of Allan Redenius
As of yesterday, Armona and I have been married 55 years.  I look back over those years and say to myself, “How blessed I am, that on the day I proposed to her, she said, ‘yes.”  She has been and always will be, the Queen of my world.
 
Like most young men and women starting out in the world, there was a lot of trial and error.  I've looked for an instruction book on how to live life, but other than the Bible, there is none.  We tried a lot of different things over our life together and some of those things worked out, and others, not so much.  But here we are today, happily living our lives by the grace of God.
 
We've laughed together at times like this.  When we were first married, we lived in the country on the top of a hill, a steep hill.  At the bottom of the hill, we had planted a garden and, in the fall, had plowed it up.  One cold wintry night with a full moon overhead, with plenty of snow on the ground—that kind of evening, we decided to go sledding down that hill.   Did you know that one sled with two people on board can zing down a steep hill at breakneck speed?  Rushing wind in our faces, a fan of snow rising up behind, we raced toward the bottom, laughing all the way.  Then in an instant, the runners of the sled hit the plowed ground, the sled stopped, and we kept on going.  After rolling to a stop, the laughter had ceased and there was silence as I looked up toward the moon.  “Are you OK?” I finally asked her.  Suddenly, Mrs. Snowman stood up and started laughing😊. That's our life together.  
 
Of course, we’ve cried together at the death of loved ones and various other heartaches along the way.  Those hard moments are part of life, and you just need to get through those times.  That's exactly what we've done along the way.
 
So, what's my advice to being happily married for a long time?  It might be as simple as laughing together more than crying apart.  By the way, you're going to need God by your side throughout your marriage.  Every now and then, you need a miracle😊.
 
Why do I have this feeling that if we were to go sledding today and come to a sudden stop, it might hurt more than it did 55 years ago? 
 
Happy anniversary, Armona!  I love you!  
Pastor Allan
 
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