Well, this week it will be 20 years of marriage for us and co-incidentally 20 years of working as a local church minister/pastor/leader. I don’t know which is the bigger achievement…

On a steamy April 6th 20 years ago I was dressed in a black suit waiting for a girl to show up at the church. I had got ready in 10 minutes – as blokes do – and was reading the newspaper to kill time. The quote for the day in Saturday’s West was ‘Marriage is an adventure. It is like going to war’.

I laughed. How appropriate… and how fortunate I am not superstitious.

Most of the time marriage has been a wonderful adventure but I honestly haven’t ever thought of it like war. Ministry on the other hand… Sadly it has been both an adventure and a battlefield and I am happy to have survived this far.

I was thinking about speaking next week at church about what I have learnt after 20 years of marriage and ministry but I’m not sure there is too much rocket science in either. There is a lot of dedication and resolve but not too many ‘tricks’.

So tomorrow afternoon we head off to Margaret River for a few days away – back to where we had our honeymoon and we will be looking forward to enjoying the space but also reflecting on what we have learnt and giving thanks for what we have been able to enjoy together.