As I prepared to go to Bible school nearly fifty years ago, I realized that if God was going to call me to be a pastor, I would need what the Bible calls a "helpmeet." If God was calling me into the ministry, He would have the responsibility of bringing into my life a wife who would help me in that ministry.
So I prayed like this: "Lord, if You want me in the ministry, You will need to send me a wife who will partner with me in this ministry. So the first young lady I meet when I arrive on campus, may that be the wife of Your choosing for me."
My parents took me to the Bible institute in New York, and as we drove up to the men's dorm where I was to stay, I saw a young lady coming out of the dorm. That was the first young lady I saw on campus. In my heart I said to God, "This is quick. I haven't even stepped foot on the campus yet."
I think I heard God chuckle at the time. As it turned out, this was indeed the young lady God had in mind for me, and ten months later she and I were married.
Our life together from the very beginning was a wondrous and, yes, even hilarious adventure in ministry and service. Without my wife, Martha Rose Snyder—the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage—my ministry would not have been what it has been throughout the years. What I lacked (which was a lot), she had. Our partnership has been a marvelous one, and I have enjoyed every step of our journey together.
I want to dedicate this book to her, trusting that she and I will have many more years of delightful ministry together.