our love story
1973: a blind date at Drake University.
1975: our wedding.
2021: 2 daughters, 12 grandchildren, 2 great son in laws! We blinked and here we are!
The first time I saw Barb she knocked my socks off and after 45 years of marriage my heart still skips a beat when she walks into the room. Barb’s beauty caught (and still does) my immediate attention. But she was different than any other girl I had dated in college and I soon learned why. During Christmas break a few months before we met her brother returned home from college and was calmer, more approachable and somehow more free. Soon thereafter Barb learned the source of the change: he had accepted Jesus as His Savior. And the night he shared about a personal relationship with Jesus Christ Barb knew it was the missing piece in her life as well and she accepted Christ. Her first prayer included wanting to meet a Godly man.
That’s where MY love story begins
When we met I was the furthest thing from a Godly man. But I couldn’t shake the impact Barb was having on me as over the next few months I realized I was falling in love with her. When she shared “I could never marry you. I am going to marry a Godly man,” the rejection soon turned to the pursuit not only of Barb but of this Jesus that had changed her life and brought her true meaning. I knew I wanted what she had and a few months later I humbled my life to Jesus as He became my Lord and Savior. And that is where our personal love story bloomed.
In 1975, Barb said yes and we were married. In 1978 after the pain a year earlier of a miscarriage of our first baby, our precious Sarah was born. Three years later, in 1981, our loving Missy was born and God had established our home of four. The early years were filled with balancing, mostly poorly on my behalf, a Master’s and Doctorate degree, full time jobs and then a blossoming counseling career that led to ministry that has so far exceeded our wildest imaginations and taken us all over the world serving marriages and families.
Our story, not unlike so many, is one that has experienced the losses and gains of a couple passionate about trying to have a healthy marriage and family as well as serve God. Today, after 46 years of marriage, we look back with incredible gratitude that our precious and loving daughters are in great marriages and parent with their husbands a grand total of 12 children that call us Papa and Gaga.
And today with a rich personal and family legacy we are ready to step into the next phase of love, life and ministry as ambassadors to marriages and families. Our passion hasn’t wavered! Our intention to live and finish life well is coupled with our desire to continue to equip and serve others, as we step into the role of ambassadors to marriages and families. As we transition to this new phase of life, including ministry, we will continue to serve, yet at a more moderated pace, and purposely equip others to carry the baton of our coaching into the next generations.
2019 wedding of Sarah rosberg to mike morrison gaining 3 bonus grandchildren!
Dr. Gary & Barb are an amazing couple who not only love & serve God, but love & honor each other as they model true marriage.
— Jonathan H.
Two of the most humble God Servants I’ve ever met! Their work for military marriages across the country is absolutely OUTSTANDING! Gary and Barb are tremendous mentors to us and we are grateful for their hearts to serve those who serve! Thanks for all you do everyday and God bless you both!
— Raul B.