I love these pictures because they show a lifetime of love where a young couple stepped out in faith into the adventure of a lifetime of ministry and purpose. They accomplished great things by being determined to only do God’s will.
My Dad, Bill Pritchett, grew up on a farm in the panhandle of Texas. He was tall and handsome yet shy especially around girls. He traveled to California to go to L.I.F.E. Bible College with his outgoing cousin, Jack.
My Mom, Betty Jaeger, had moved from Wisconsin to California with her family. It was in a town called Woodland that she received Christ into her life and was changed forever. She felt the call to devote her life to full-time ministry and decided to go to Los Angeles to study at the same Bible College.
When the new students came in that year, my Dad’s cousin, Jack, encouraged him to go talk to a pretty brunette. It just so happened that Bill and Betty tried to go through a door at the same time. Betty gave him one of her dazzling smiles. He was smitten. He tells on himself when he says, “It wasn’t until later that I realized that she smiled that way to everyone.”
Three months after they met they became engaged. They waited until the next Easter to get married. Aimee Semple McPherson performed the ceremony after an Easter evening service at Angelus Temple. They had 5,000 at their wedding.
I asked Mom about how she knew that Dad was the one for her and she said, “I just knew it was God’s will.”
I am thankful for their life of service to the Lord and never wavering from doing God’s will. They ministered as missionaries throughout Latin America and Spain.
I am thankful for their life of prayer and intercession.
I am thankful for their love for the Word of God.
I am thankful for the daily habit of sitting down to a meal together where we laughed and belonged as a family.
I am thankful that they modeled a life of faith and devotion to God, to each other, to our family, and to an extended spiritual family.
I am thankful for a legacy of living by faith, going to the next call of duty, loving people unconditionally and lovine me “a bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck.”
Prayer
Thank You, Lord, for allowing me to live with two people who served You so completely and fully. What a wonderful model they are for all of us to put You first and seek only Your will for our lives. I thank You for calling many to a life of intercession and devouring the Word of God on a daily basis. I pray that You allow us to see how important it is to all sit down together as families to bond and laugh as we live life together. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Author, speaker, corporate trainer, ordained minister and Hope Catalyst, Karen Sebastian enjoys sharing her rich life experiences with others – engaging them in adventurous discoveries of the beauty of hope in a dark, cloudy world.
