I still remember the first time I met my now wife’s name, Joyce Yator Chepkwony. I can recall seeing much of the quiet, fearsome beauty the Lord praised in the many wonderful women we read about in scriptures. As husband and wife, we’ve lived together through some unbelievably happy (and one miserable) ministry experiences. Through it all she’s had the same quiet, gentle spirit. My wife’s quietness, reflects her trust in God. She is always peaceful even in challenging times. When I first met her, I saw a woman who trusted the Lord to provide her with a husband, with a family, or with whatever else he had for her. In her quietness also is submission. In a few conversation, the first day we talked, I could see a woman who would be submissive to her future husband, whoever he was to be, and not to any other man. Throughout this journey, I have seen her to guarded her affections, her attachments and her expectations.
That kind of fearless quietness is the joyful reason that, while I’ve worried about all kinds of things in my life, I’ve never (not once!) worried about Joyce deserting her love for God and family, mistreating our children or simply flying into a hot rage or a cold war. Her gentle power is what I hope is seen clearly by the children – Mercy and Dan that God has given us to raising together. Every day, though her, our children have seen a peaceful woman who submits to the Lord. And through it all, she’s shown me what it means that the woman is “the glory of man” (1 Cor. 11:7). I find her glorious, and through her I’ve seen what Christic glory is, for men and women, not self-seeking assertion but Father-trusting humility (Phil. 2:5-11).
And so as I begin second half of life at Harrogate, Tennessee I am thankful to God for giving me this gentle, mysterious, life-affirming, powerful woman as my wife. Blessed is she among women, and blessed is the One who gave her life.
Erick Chepkwony, TH.D 