Dani's Dirt

September 11, 1982, in the First United Methodist Church of Okmulgee, Oklahoma, 19 year old Michele Darby married 23 year old Denny Beard.

In my world, these two go by Mom and Dad.

Whatever brought together my reserved, disciplined, beautiful mother with my outgoing, wild, cowboy father is beyond me, but God has the greater plan and obviously knew what he was doing.

30 years and two rugrats later, they are still a testimony to each other, and an example to my sister and I of what marriage is.Since I’ve been hanging around for most of their marriage I’ve picked up a thing or two on the subject. Marriage is hard, plain and simple, (even though they do a good job of making it look easy.) but it’s worth fighting for. Life is a roller coaster, a curve ball, and many other cliche metaphors, but if you are lucky enough to have someone to stand in the storm with you then you can conquer it all.

I am proud to say my parents are an example of just that, through all life’s joys and struggles they’ve remained by each others side. That my friends is commitment, and also a very rare, special thing.

Something I’ve learned from my parents is that commitment, and a strong marriage doesn’t just happen, it grows from a solid foundation of love and faith.

They say love conquers all? Maybe that’s true, but I believe Faith is the quiet kid in the corner who leans forward to catch Love when she stumbles.

For a successful marriage, love and faith must always stay hand-in-hand, whether it’s faith in each other or faith in a greater power (I strongly believe you need both types of faith). Because no matter how much you love someone there will be times when that love is tested. This is where faith saves the day, and of course brings along his friends: Work, Patience, Prayer, and Understanding.

And with that I just want to say thank you to my Mom and Dad. Thank you for being my favorite example of faith, love, and commitment, thank you for being my rock and foundation, and thank you for loving each other. Happy 30th Anniversary, here’s to many, many more.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13

My other amazing examples of love, faith, and commitment:

My Grandpa and Grandma Darby married December 22, 1954. In case you don’t want to do the math, that is 58 years! A lifetime together… this picture makes my eyes leak.My Sister and Brother-in-law married August 5, 2011. Yes they just celebrated their one year anniversary, and yes they are just about the cutest newlyweds ever. Okay so I may be a little biased here.