Confession #32 Valentine's Day Dedication

To find the ideal marriage to model or look up to is very rare these days. It seems as if society has gotten away from the meaning of marriage and what it means to love. Most of all, society has taken the most important ingredient out of what makes a relationship or marriage whole: Christ. As I stated in an earlier post, if your relationship with God is not whole, how can you expect for your earthly relationship to be whole?

Raised in a single parent home, I struggled with the aspects of the male and female relationship. Never quite understood either role in a relationship. However, what was presented to me gave me a better understanding of what I didn't want. Knowing what I didn't want still did not give me the answer to what I wanted, until the day I met this couple. Being around this couple really made me realize how beautiful love can be and it warmed my heart. They were a team, partners, role models, lovers, and most of all Christians. He respected her as his queen and she respected him as her king. It was evident that God was at the core of their marriage.

Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with ACTIONS and in truth.

  I John 3:18 (NIV)

Married for over 25 years, Donald and Doretha Heard met in 1982 in Tuskegee, Alabama. After 4 years of courtship, they married in 1986. It was not long after that their offspring began to come in the following year. They were both accomplished and did what it takes to provide for their new family. Donald received his formal electrical training in the Air Force and became a certified electrician which helped him provide and build a foundation for his family. He first began working at the VA Medical Center and soon decided it was time to open his own company. He retired at the beginning of 2011. Doretha received her degree in Nursing from Troy University. After working at the VA Medical Center as an OR Nurse, she decided to get her masters. She is now the Nurse Care Manager at the VA Medical Center in Tuskegee.

Donald and Doretha were both family oriented and created many memories that their kids will forever cherish.  Their oldest son, Dontez, shared one of his favorite memories: 

"There are so many. I can remember when My dad threw my mom a 50th Bday party at our house and he invited all her Girlfriends from high school, along with a host of family and friends. She was so happy. I remember how when she would be fussing about something and he would just grab her and start dancing with her. But she would still be fussing the whole while they two-stepped and he would be laughing."

On this Valentine's Day I just want to first thank God for everything and everyone he has blessed me with. I would also like to dedicate this post to Mrs Doretha. You are an amazing wife, mother, and woman of God that I truly admire. I fought so long to find a marriage that I truly I adore and it's amazing how Gods work. People are placed in our lives for a reason. Thank you for showing me what it means to be a wife and mother. Happy Valentine's Day to you!

1 Corinthian 13:4-7 NIV

 ⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.