Once upon a time in the tiny Kingdom of Clovis, which is in the midst of a vast and flat desert, there was a young lad who enjoyed the competition of sporting events and who also loved to dance. A native of the land, he was often seen at rigorous athletic tournaments or at social events dancing with fair young maidens.
There came to Clovis, by Divine Arrangement, an honorable, though humble, military gentleman with a devoted wife and three daughters--two of whom were twins. Because both families were blessed with Christian mothers, their children all attended church, indeed the same church. However, the lad often missed evening services because of his waltzing.
There were no moats or drawbridges around the castles and cottages in Clovis, and thus the eager young suitor ventured to the girls' modest home to ask permission for the younger twin sister to accompany him to a ball. He spent the evening hours being entertained in family games. During the rounds of jesting and competition, his eyes were struck by the serious and quiet older twin sister.
Alas, the shy maiden, who captured his interest if not his heart at once, did not dance. Nonetheless, her Baptist mother, who had Methodist feet, was able to teach her a few steps, and the young couple attended many a ball in the Clovis Court.
In the years which passed, the two sweethearts were separated by educational pursuits--the girl in the faraway, foreign Country of Texas and the boy in the southern region of his New Mexico homeland. Upon her graduation, which came first, for she was older though not smarter than he, the two were betrothed and bound in Holy Matrimony as husband and wife, with God's Blessing, in the year of our Lord nineteen-hundred-and-sixty-three.
As the Christian couple embarked in Love-for-a-Lifetime, they soon realized how little they knew about love and life and their Lord. By the end of the next year, God in His benevolence surprised them with the arrival of a tiny and beautiful daughter, who taught them many lessons about unselfish love. Alas, it was to be many years before the arrival of another child. But never fear, the Sovereign King, who has Dominion over the entire Universe, had chosen their children before the Foundation of the Earth; and thus, in God's wisdom and timing, He brought them a precious six-day-old baby boy. A happier child had never been born, and he was a witness to them daily of the Feast-table of God's abundant gifts to them!
Through the years amidst both joys and tears, God grew them and taught them much about His love for them, indeed His love for the entire World. God guided them to learn forgiveness, to count their blessings, and to seek His Kingdom first. For you see, this Earth is not their Eternal Home, and life is not a fairy tale!
