He's put up with me for twenty years

Long ago, our mission directors decided that a short American girl should share a desk with a tall Swede in Maputo, Mozambique. They were in the same department and the office was very small. That's the beginning of our story. We've told it often and in many circumstances: when we visited churches everyone wanted the "love story"; when we met people in Mozambique and they wanted to know how we ended up together; when I've given a lift to a lady on the side of the road and she asked how I ended up in Mozambique and questions led to the story. God has used the story to show many how he can lead with a smile, and a whisper of hope. We married at the age of 30. It seemed very old at the time!

February 22, 1997

Mikael and I have made a life together, and we have mostly allowed God to guide us. He's guided us through good and bad decisions and moved us a little closer to His vision of who we are in Him, I hope. We are never quite there... but we are moving there together. Not every step is as exciting as the first! I still tingle at his touch, and he still twinkles when I smile. We are not the same as we were at thirty. We are grown up and we've walked through the stresses of changing countries a dozen times while creating a family of transient troopers. From strollers through the Swedish snow and cloth diapers in the African sunshine to muddy feet and malaria fevers and Christmas in America... our big success may have been in our stubborn optimism (mostly mine) and unswerving focus (mostly his). The real love we share for each other isn't the tingly kind, but the sticky kind. We decide to make it work and never give up and know that it will always get better. If things aren't better today, there is always tomorrow.

Because when "love never fails" I don't think it means that MY love will always be perfect. I think it means that committing to the best for each other comes before personal satisfaction. On the days we get that right, we are both happy and moving ahead. When MY best pushes against our best, we stop. Grace is the secret to all the bumps along the way -- that "unmerited favor" that purposefully decides to recognize there was crap, but to forgive it and get on the way. ONWARD!

So here's to my prince charming... Mikael Bister. He's embraced this loud-mouthed, opinionated and impatient woman and says he's excited to have me by his side. I'm so thankful for his steady side to be beside! He is kind. He is gentle. He is not easily swayed by trends and wishful thinking. He will never give up on a commitment once he's made it. (That includes me, our kids, and a long, drawn-out Bible translation program.) He's pretty much got the final word on the text for 80% of Nyungwe publications ever published. (There haven't been all that many, but since Little Zebra and SIL are responsible for most of them, I think that is a safe assertion.) I couldn't do what I do without him - personally or professionally. He can make me crazy in all the good and bad ways, but I respect him and I trust him, and that's what makes things work.