Today is October 16, 2026. Fifty years ago on this day, two kids (19 and 21) said, “I Do.”
(BONUS: To Watch a 3-Minute Slideshow of our 5 Decades together, set to Shania Twain’s “You’re Still The One, click this YouTube link) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsdXP49hje8
That we made it this far is a gift from God. We both know many friends who haven’t, and we all know none of us has any control over how many years we get to spend on this earth. That we are still in love, still happy, still the best of friends… well, that is also a gift from God. But then, I give a bunch of credit also to the girl I fell in love with the very first time I saw her across the room.
I’m not exaggerating. I was totally smitten. I still am… 51 years later (I met her the year before we married).
To put it kindly, she didn’t see me the same way. In fact, as I learned later, she thought I was 16, and pretty immature. Every effort I made to impress her, turned her off even more. The story really begins 6 months before this, shortly after I gave my life to Christ. I’d heard a teaching that said I shouldn’t be casually dating, the way everyone my age did, the way I’d behaved since middle school. The message was, there is one girl for you, the one you will spend your life with, and you should keep yourself for her, get closer to the Lord, and trust Him to bring her to you when He knows you’re ready.
So, I did that. Gave up dating completely, and prayed every day God would show me “that girl,” the one He had picked out. When I saw Cindi that Sunday afternoon, I was certain she was that 
one. We were even at a youth prayer meeting. I did everything I could to impress her and try to get her to notice me. Nothing worked. Finally, after pouring out my frustration to God, I felt His answer was, “Stop trying. None of the things you’ve done before (to impress girls) will work. Re-set your focus back on me, and trust me to bring this about in My time.”
I really believed that was God’s answer to my prayer, so I obeyed this completely. The nice thing was, I got a clear sense that I wasn’t wrong. She was the one. I just had to wait on Him and stop striving. I spent the next 6 months surfing, working, reading my Bible, going to prayer meetings (always seeing her but leaving her alone). And then, it happened, over the span of one weekend. The Lord opened her eyes to see me in a new way, and she started making it clear that she wanted to spend time with me.
I was over the moon. After a few times together, where it was clear she really did like me “that way,” like an idiot, I told her all about my journey (all the things I just told you about), including how I believed she was the girl I had been praying for and waiting for all these months. Implying pretty clearly, that we were supposed to be together for the rest of our lives.
Can you believe I did this? Looking back, I can’t believe how stupid that was. I could have chased her away for good coming on that strong. But, that’s not what happened. She didn’t pull back. She didn’t jump for joy, either. She just said, she would pray about it.
The next time I saw her, I could see in her eyes… the Lord had changed her heart. She said the Lord gave her a great peace about this, and the next time she saw me she knew she was in love with me. And we’ve been together since that weekend until… well, until now, over 50 years later.
See, in the last 15-20 years, I’ve written 30 novels. The first dozen or so, critics and reviewers began to call me the “Nicholas Sparks of Christian Fiction,” because so many thought they were such amazing love stories. Really, in almost all my novels, even the suspenseful ones, there’s almost always a thread of romance involved. Readers and interviewers have asked me about this many times. Male authors aren’t normally like this, I guess. 
But for me, it always came easy. It’s not hard for me to write this way or to create these romantic parts in my novels. And I know why. It’s because… at the very beginning of my own story… I GOT THE GIRL.
Cindi is, genuinely, the first and only love of my life. And all through these 50 years, this has remained true. Together we’ve watched so many romantic comedies, Jane Austen movies, and popular love stories. And when those romantic happy endings appear, I’ve always enjoyed them. I’ve never seen a single one that ever made me wish my own story was that nice. Just the opposite. They always remind me of my own story. And how wonderful it was, that God brought Cindi into my life. I never imagine what it must be like to experience this kind of love, because… I GOT THE GIRL.
But here’s the best part… who knows how this made-up movie couple on screen would feel about each other a few years from that moment? The statistics are not good. More than 50% of couples break up. I’ve never once regretted saying I DO back then. Because she’s not just the love of my life. She’s my all-time favorite person to spend time with. She is without a doubt the nicest and finest woman I’ve ever met. And the most fun.
And I’ve had the privilege of living out our love story for 50 years now. Really 51, including the year we were engaged. I don’t know how many more years God will give us together. I hope a lot. But I’m looking forward to the future, because I get to spend it with Cindi.
Happy Anniversary, my Love. — Dan