The First Twenty

A couple of days ago, Kellie and I celebrated our twentieth wedding anniversary. The night of that milestone anniversary, after many commitments that day, we managed to sneak off to our favorite little Italian restaurant around the corner from our house and had a very nice, quiet dinner together. Great food, great company. Actually, it was the perfect evening for an otherwise typically busy family weekday.

Twenty years of marriage. For us, it's hard to believe. Honestly, it seems like just yesterday that we had that beautiful ceremony in her parents' backyard by their brand new pool. I'll never forget that night. Wow, we were just kids. Well, at least Kellie was! And now, twenty years later, we have two wonderful teenagers, a semi-trustworthy dog, and we both look forward to what the next twenty years of marriage will bring. We hope to grow even closer together, we wonder what our kids will be like when they're all grown up with their own families (no hurry on that), and we look forward to grandchildren in the future (again, plenty of time on that). Meanwhile, over the next twenty years, Kellie and I believe we will be more invested in other marriages than we ever have been before....and we look forward to that, too. Serving marriages always does so much for our own relationship and it's a real joy.

Anyway, to further celebrate our twentieth, Kellie and I are going to enjoy another one of our overnight stays at a nice hotel in downtown Houston. You may recall that we try to do this at least four times a year (thanks to http://www.priceline.com/). But since I also happen to be officiating a wedding downtown this weekend of some precious new friends of ours, Kellie and I decided to just go ahead and enjoy the entire weekend in the heart of our hometown. Why not? After all, Houston really does have much to offer after the summer heat dies down. We're anticipating a fun time together.

I don't know what I did to get such a wonderful wife in Kellie. I certainly didn't deserve her--not by any stretch of the imagination. But, for some reason, because of His great mercy, God loves me--a whole lot! And He knew a long time ago just what I needed in a life mate--and so He brought me Kellie. Honestly, over the years, there have been one or two times that I have forgotten what a diamond she is. But usually it doesn't take long for me to be reminded of how very excellent life is with her. I couldn't be happier. I only hope to be worthy of her love for another twenty years. I suppose it will take twenty more years of a whole lot of prayer to try to get me that way!

Football Tips for Married Men

I love football season. Hmmmm......perhaps I should say it like this: I LOVE FOOTBALL SEASON!! Ever since I was an elementary school kid, pretending to be a sportswriter and turning out a weekly report complete with predictions of game outcomes, football season has been a big part of my life. Big surprise for a guy, huh? Loving football certainly doesn't make me unique as an American male. In fact, particularly in the month of September, most guys find they have to express this affection for this violent sport somehow, somewhere, in some kind of a public forum.

Tonight, my 8th grade son, who plays football himself, and I will be making another quick trek to Austin to see the Horns play Rice. It should be interesting. My nephew, Scott Solomon, is a starting defensive end for Rice....as a freshman! So we'll be a little bit torn watching that game. Basically, I just don't want Scott to hurt Colt McCoy when he sacks him a couple of times.

Tomorrow, after church, it's Texans vs. Colts in the afternoon and then the Cowboys and Bears at night. Monday night, it's Vince Young vs. the Saints. I'm salivating even as I type these words! What a weekend.

Fortunately, my wife of twenty years has grown to love both football and baseball quite a bit (probably because her son plays both sports now). In fact, Kellie often puts the game on TV before I do! Wow, what a gal! How did this metamorphosis take place? I honestly don't know. I just count my blessings. So, as you can see, we don't have a lot of the contentious issues that we did early in our marriage related to my sports obsessions.

Be that as it may, I still feel compelled to give men a few tips when it comes to football season and your wife:

1. Don't give her a pair of season tickets to your favorite team for your anniversary....unless she asks for that.

2. Listen to her often....not only during commerical breaks.

3. Notice her new shoes before game time....even if you're not a shoes guy.

4. Don't say, "I'm trying to hear the lineups" when she asks you what's on your mind.

5. Don't ask her if she can make a quick trip to the store during halftime because you're dreadfully low on snacks.

6. Notice her new nails before halftime....even if you're not a nails guy.

7. If her birthday falls on the same day as the big bowl game, don't complain about having to spend time celebrating together. TiVo, my friend. TiVo.

8. Don't say, "No, not really" when she asks you if you want to talk.

9. Notice her new haircut before the game's over. But make sure she's indeed had one.

10. When the game's over, don't complain about being tired.

This is an abridged list of hard-learned lessons from a guy who has been there. I'd love to hear about any other helpful tips.

Football is so beautiful. But, guys, do what you can to make your wives feel special during this wonderful time of the year. If you do, you may find yourself allowed to watch even the bowl games that start in mid-December. If you don't, you may ultimately find yourself watching more games than you ever wanted to. Not good.