“Happy New Year!” has been spoken many times and is now pretty much history for this year.  As we get settled into 2026, the advancing years can cause us to look back over our lives filled with memories of times that were good, and not so good!   Susan and I just celebrated our 50^th wedding anniversary and decided to look back over those 50 years to recognize the people who prayed us through our marriage.  Those are people who praised God with us in times of joy and prayed and wept with us in times of uncertainty and great angst.  We’ve seen God’s hand in using the prayers of many different people in different moments in our marriage.  

Of all the people in our marriage who we could count on for prayer, our parents and Susan’s grandparents stand out.  They prayed us through years of infertility and all the personal struggles to be able to have a child. Tough times for sure!!  When we didn’t know if our marriage would make it, friends and family prayed and God worked.  He used our wedding verse to encourage and strengthen us.  “For I know the plans I have for you says the LORD, plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”  Jeremiah 29:11

Our friend, Tina, diligently prayed for us to accept an invitation to join Bible Study Fellowship.  We joined and that began a 30-year love of God’s word.  In those years, we learned that the Bible is how God talks to us, and our prayers are how we talk to God.

Shortly after Randy retired from full-time work, he was diagnosed with a potentially life- threatening lung disease.  Our Pastor at our church in St. Louis prayed for him but asked a hard question, “Do you believe Jesus can heal you?”  Randy answered “Yes, but I don’t know why He would.”   Pastor John anointed Randy and in Jesus’ name, prayed, and commanded healing of his lungs.  Three days later, a pulmonologist reviewed a lung scan and seemed startled to see “nothing there”.  We know Jesus gave this healing so that we could grow in our love of God, prayer and other people.

Along the way, God brought “prayer warriors” into our lives who knew the power of prayer and prayed on our behalf, even when we didn’t ask or even deserve their prayers.  Those prayer warriors are just ordinary people like you and me who serve an extraordinary God.

God has also proved that He will not give up on us.  We read in Philippians 1:6 that “I’m sure that He who started a good work in you will go on to finish it till the day of Christ Jesus.”  He has been faithful in gradually growing us in faith and love, and He has never stopped.  May you always see His work in your life and His great love for you too.

Randy and Susan Taylor