WHAT HAPPENED?

February 1, 2026

Happy VD!  And yes I do mean Valentine’s Day!  Shame on you for thinking anything else!  For lots of people, Valentine’s Day is a day to be “lovey-dovey.” For others, it’s a day to feel that there is something missing in their lives.  For many older couples, it’s a day of recalling fond memories and a time for self-reflection.  I know about the older couples’ thoughts because I have friends who share their Valentine’s Day thoughts with me and I have my own “crusty old man” thoughts.

Over time, some married couples become distant from one another even though they were once passionately in love.  What they once thought was cute and funny has become annoying or stupid.  Often, once the kids are grown and the house is empty there’s not much to talk about.

I heard that a recent survey found that 25% of thousands of church attending couples surveyed stated that they considered their marriages at risk.  Somewhere I read that 50% of all marriages end in divorce.  It’s reported that 80% of all second marriages fail!  What is going on and what can be done to change these upsetting statistics?  My friends at Focus on the Family have great success helping couples!  Robert Paul and Greg Smalley recently wrote a book titled “9 Lies That Will Destroy Your Marriage: And the Truths That Will Save It and Set It Free.” The authors counter misconceptions and myths about marriage with biblical truths and practical advice to help on the journey to a better marriage.  My favorite part of the book is how to deal with all the potential problems that arise during a marriage.  Some of these concepts and tools are hot buttons to me:

“Saint Barbara,” my wife of almost forty years, and I both fondly remember that when we were young, we ripped each other’s clothes off.  Now we help each other get dressed!  I think she still loves me but in a different way as I love her in a different way.  I am often out of town and recently she shared her feelings about my travels.  She said, “I really miss you when you are gone because I feel secure when you are home.” My old crusty and calloused mind thought of a million other reasons that I would rather have heard!  Taking only a nanosecond to respond, I told her she should hire a security guard when I head out for my next out-of-town adventure. 

For the sake of Valentine’s Day, since I know that I am perfect in every way, would someone please read the book I am recommending and let my wife know how lucky she is to have a husband who is a workaholic, a perfectionist, does his own laundry, gets his own meals and wants to enjoy is a little peace and quiet when he gets home?!

SOME SOUL SEARCHING QUESTIONS:

Here is a prayer for “Married Couples” that I often say for my own marriage and that of others.  Just maybe you know someone who could this prayer:

Almighty God, giver of life and love, bless (name) and (name).  Grant them wisdom and devotion in the ordering of their common life, that each may be to the other a strength in need, a counselor in perplexity, a comfort in sorrow, and a companion in joy.  And so knit their wills together in your will and their spirits in your Spirit, that they may live together in love and peace all the days of their life; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

One last “Crusty” closing thought: Every now and then I share this thought with my bride: “Maybe there’s a good reason why Jesus was single.” He was a man on a much greater mission than mine, but I am too on a mission but thankfully I’ve got a wife who supports my mission and tolerates me, most of the time!  God Bless!

Written by KING AEROSPACE Founder, Jerry Allan King-Echevarria.