My oldest son wrote this romantic poem to his wife of 34 years.

Think not for a minute God does not honor faithful love and service.

"I’d Never Known Sacred Fire"

"At our very first kiss…

I hesitated because I’d never known sacred fire.

I was delighted and slightly touched by an unknown dread, like I was on a path I’d never tread before.

I knew you were requiring more of me than I’d ever given.

I felt a demand to be a good man more than I’d ever been for another woman.

I felt a foretaste of what it will probably feel like coming into Zion for the first time where all one’s deepest inner associations with story, faith and meaning find a place, a moment, a people. It's like you’ve found your heart’s home, but you feel like you’ve been invited by mistake.

Now when I kiss you…

I feel lips warmed and worn by a life of love that took more than we ever knew it would cost and more than we ever believed could be experienced.

Each year I’ve kissed a slightly different woman, but the flame has never burned out, even as it has changed us both.

As the light of that sacred fire has burned, you’ve become more of a truer woman than I’ve ever known.

You welcome and honor a life lived well.

Grey has become your visible testament and glory, like the coastal seas that take the breath away and rumble and roar in a manner that leaves one uneasy, but utterly captivated.

You continue to give love to others when they do not always deserve it.

You are willing to work unseen and faithfully, and long for little other…than gratitude.

Each year crowns you with another diadem of grace and wisdom and the depth of your vision brings greater light to all who are blessed to be close enough to hear you.

You hold others up and truly reflect the Lord who is our helper in all the ways that being a helpmate reflects.

Your children call you blessed for the many gifts you’ve given them as mother.

You’ve freely given the pearls of the music of Heaven to so many and only in eternity will you hear the final masterpiece of every note you’ve sung.

When you now give a kiss…

It’s given with far greater knowledge of all it means to give and for that I am forever grateful.

I’m so grateful for the day you were born."

Eric Blauer 2024.