"Enjoy life with the woman whom you love all the days of your fleeting life which He has given you under the sun; for this is your reward in life and in your toil in which you have labored under the sun” (Eccl. 9:9 ASV).

This past June marked the 51st year Jacqueline Marva Cook has been my wife, and it is good to be reminded that she is my “reward in life.” She has blessed me with three fine sons, one beautiful daughter, ten grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. My reward in life is far more than I deserve, but I praise God for His unmeasured grace and generosity.

Have you heard old folks say, “Our lives are sweeter as the years go by?” Well, let this old man say it again! We were so young when we started out together that there was no way we could have full appreciation for what a loving heavenly Father had done by bringing us into union. There were the days of testing the limits, struggling to merge cultures (yes, there are sub-cultural differences for two African-Americans coming from diverse family backgrounds), and finding oneness in Christ for an Adventist young man and a Baptist young woman. But it gets sweeter.

Soon the first of four children arrived, all of them born on the Sabbath. My dad liked to tease Jackie that she always “labored” on God’s holy Sabbath. What an adventure! You do not learn enough raising one child to make the others easy. Each little life is a separate case—each new, little soul a separate challenge. But it gets sweeter.

Suddenly, the Word of the Lord returns unto you again, and the calling you have run from for twenty years is again upon you. We uprooted our family from the lovely home we built on the Wright compound outside Germantown, Ohio, and moved into a cramped, but affordable apartment while I went off to the Seminary. I commuted weekends to pastor my church and see my family. But it gets sweeter.

Next came the “empty nest” syndrome as, one by one, our children left home. What if we had not built a loving, respectful relationship by that time? It would have been chaotic. But it got sweeter.

I was stricken with cancer, but my “reward in life” was there by my side to nurture and comfort me back to health. Now we look forward to life in the earth made new when Jesus shall take us home. It will be even sweeter than we can imagine.