We were the least likely couple. And for good reason. In this picture, we walked out double doors thinking we held the future in our hands. Life was a party, and we were its guests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Six years in, I was the first to want to quit. On us, my kids, my life. Reality was hard. This whole business of forever, a farce. No one can keep love up\u2014he\u2019s not changing, I\u2019m always complaining.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The day I broke, God spoke. That\u2019s the way it always goes: my stubbornness thinks it knows, until my latest weakness is exposed\u2014out in the open, busted. When I\u2019m out of options, God finally gets my attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thankfully, gratefully after 34 years with the Lord my stubbornness yields much sooner. I know Whom I have believed. I ask faster, listen longer, trust fuller the One true Love<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Love<\/em>, who suffers long, never keeps tabs on wrongs, isn\u2019t rude, envious, or argumentative. Love<\/em>, who bears, believes, hopes, endures every big and little thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The boy dressed up like a man, the girl wearing white\u2014they never \u201cfell in love\u201d. They learned love when they understood how Jesus first loved them. That\u2019s when everything started changing. Little by little God pruned away their old dead ways. Kindness<\/em> slowly started taking over their darkness and they found real happiness. Love became the one promise they could trust.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n We can\u2019t raise glasses to our hard efforts after 40 years. No sir. We sing praises to Love<\/em> who never gives up. Love<\/em> who saved us then, disciplines us for our good now, and gifts us eternity with Him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We were the least likely couple. And for good reason. In this picture, we walked out double doors thinking we held the future in our hands. Life was a party, and we were its guests. Six years in, I was the first to want to quit. On us, my kids, my life. Reality was hard. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":143625079,"featured_media":5809,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3785],"tags":[773157852,773157840,773157876],"class_list":["post-5801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-love","tag-jesus","tag-love","tag-salvation"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pacmrQ-1vz","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":15719,"url":"https:\/\/joalo.org\/?p=15719","url_meta":{"origin":5801,"position":0},"title":"What It Means to Actually Walk with God","author":"Jo Alo","date":"June 4, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"What does it mean when we read in Scripture how some walked with God? Does it mean putting on our shoes and running our palms over feathery prairie grass? Noticing bright red ladybugs and dandelions popping up? Is that what it means to walk with our Creator? Stepping out of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Bible"","block_context":{"text":"The Bible","link":"https:\/\/joalo.org\/?cat=54418"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/joalo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/kids-on-tractor-with-great-grampa-2.jpeg?fit=1200%2C756&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/joalo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/kids-on-tractor-with-great-grampa-2.jpeg?fit=1200%2C756&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/joalo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/kids-on-tractor-with-great-grampa-2.jpeg?fit=1200%2C756&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/joalo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/kids-on-tractor-with-great-grampa-2.jpeg?fit=1200%2C756&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/joalo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/kids-on-tractor-with-great-grampa-2.jpeg?fit=1200%2C756&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":13897,"url":"https:\/\/joalo.org\/?p=13897","url_meta":{"origin":5801,"position":1},"title":"Showing Up & Fleshing Out Faith","author":"Jo Alo","date":"September 3, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Moses showed up. That's how he faithfully served God. The number of friends he had, how many spoke well of him, whether or not he got a pat on the back\u2014never determined the weight of his faith in a God who loved him enough to be with him. If anything,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Bible"","block_context":{"text":"The Bible","link":"https:\/\/joalo.org\/?cat=54418"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/joalo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/child-on-shoulders.jpeg?fit=1200%2C945&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/joalo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/child-on-shoulders.jpeg?fit=1200%2C945&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/joalo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/child-on-shoulders.jpeg?fit=1200%2C945&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/joalo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/child-on-shoulders.jpeg?fit=1200%2C945&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/joalo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/child-on-shoulders.jpeg?fit=1200%2C945&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1522,"url":"https:\/\/joalo.org\/?p=1522","url_meta":{"origin":5801,"position":2},"title":"Admitting I Can\u2019t Before Saying I Do","author":"Jo Alo","date":"June 25, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"We made unkeepable promises. To love and cherish till death do us part. In 38 years, our marriage has suffered many deaths. But no death more insurmountable than the one of our own stubborn pride. We never knew poverty till after the promise. 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I\u2019ve had unsettled questions about this parable. Why is this guy singled out because of the clothing he chooses to wear? I thought Jesus said not to worry about what we\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Bible"","block_context":{"text":"The Bible","link":"https:\/\/joalo.org\/?cat=54418"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/joalo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/samantha-gades-x40q9jrevt0-unsplash.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/joalo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/samantha-gades-x40q9jrevt0-unsplash.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/joalo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/samantha-gades-x40q9jrevt0-unsplash.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/joalo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/samantha-gades-x40q9jrevt0-unsplash.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/joalo.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/samantha-gades-x40q9jrevt0-unsplash.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2603,"url":"https:\/\/joalo.org\/?p=2603","url_meta":{"origin":5801,"position":4},"title":"Live at Peace","author":"Jo Alo","date":"September 16, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Biting lips and holding the tongue\u2014isn\u2019t that keeping the peace? No words get exchanged, no fighting ignites, and everyone walks away in one piece. No bloodshed doesn\u2019t mean no harm done. How many times have I walked out, or sent others away, emotionally injured, insulted, or hostile? 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