What Makes A Marriage Last

Last night I discovered Howard Hendricks went home to his reward. He died on Feb. 20, having taught for over 60 years at Dallas Theological Seminary. I never met him, but looked up to him and he influenced my life in so many ways. We would listen to his 15 minute radio broadcast in the early 80’s when we lived in Tumwater and I followed his ministry. We used to call him “Uncle Howard” because he shared the same name as us, even though he was not actually related as far as I know. He was married almost 70 years and found this video online talking about "marriage" I had to share today. Howard Hendricks came from a broken home, his parents having split up after he was born. He was raised by his grandmother and described himself during elementary school as a troublemaker. According to a Dallas Theological Seminary tribute, caring words from his sixth-grade teacher changed his life. “People are always looking for someone to say, ‘Hey, I believe in you,’”Howard Hendricks was quoted as saying. Howard Hendricks taught the Bible at Dallas Theological Seminary for 61 years. He wrote a big stack of books and was married for nearly seven decades. His love for the Bible was infectious, as evidenced by the passion for the Bible displayed in the ministries of folks he taught: Tony Evans, Robert Jeffress, David Jeremiah, Erwin Lutzer, Joseph Stowell, and Chuck Swindoll. He also influenced future professors and authors, including Bruce Wilkinson, best-selling author of The Prayer of Jabez. Well Done- What A Legacy and example! I hope I can believe in a someone(s) and change his life like his 6th grade teacher did for him....

“I don’t believe a word of it”

Howard Hendricks was raised in a broken home. He recalled, “My parents separated when I came along. I split the family.” His father’s mother reared him, and he described himself as a “troublemaker” during his elementary school years, “probably just ‘acting out’ a lot of insecurities.”

“Most likely to end up in prison” was the assessment of his fifth-grade teacher in Philadelphia. Once she even tied him to his seat with a rope and taped his mouth shut. Yet everything changed for that boy when he met his sixth-grade teacher. He introduced himself to Miss Noe, and she told him, “I’ve heard a lot about you. But I don’t believe a word of it.”

Those words would change his life. She made him realize for the first time that someone cared. “People are always looking for someone to say, ‘Hey, I believe in you,’” he said. And in his more than sixty years as a professor, he believed in his students.