The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. — John 1:14
My wife Betty and I met around the time that she had left her parents’ home and was starting her senior year of high school. After dating her a few months, I went to Navy Boot Camp, and we began writing letters. With my three-month period of basic training completed, I attended a school near Memphis and was close enough to see Betty every couple of months. We began to think about marriage, but that was not to be.
Instead of receiving an assignment in the U.S., as all of my classmates had, I would spend the next eighteen months in the Philippine Islands at a Naval Air Station. Even with our marriage plans already being put to this test, I nearly made the biggest mistake of my life.
Betty wrote to me every day while I, on the other hand, sent her a few lines when the notion struck me. In one of her letters was a blunt statement. She wondered if patiently waiting for me was the wrong thing to do. It was almost a week before Betty received my apologetic message and thankfully forgave me. We connected only one time through a long-distance telephone call made just before Christmas. Hearing Betty’s voice was the best gift ever. Oh yes, and our plan to be married as soon as I got home the next summer was put into action.
After our wedding day and a trip on Route 66 to San Diego, we enjoyed three months of married life while I received more education in a training squadron. Since I had been stationed outside the U.S. for such a long time, I thought this would be my permanent duty station, but that would not be the case. Our happy married life was abruptly interrupted as I spent the next eight months floating on an aircraft carrier off the coast of Vietnam. Even though I was a very busy member of a fighter jet squadron waging war against the North Vietnamese Army, I found enough time to write to my worried young wife in San Diego. After one more short cruise, when I returned to California, we were glad to let our Navy days be only memories. I got out just two days before Christmas in 1967.
Today, it is easy to look back at the events and the unexpected changes and see how much God wove our love story together. I reflect on the feelings of hope and anticipation. Our wartime love story of forgiveness, devotion, and hope would not have occurred without the birth of Jesus Christ, who became the Savior of the world.