Cliff Silliman by Jenna Vick Silliman

I already knew Cliff was the one for me. God had told me I was going to marry this man, months and months prior to Cliff getting the message, but I persevered. Cliff proposed on Christmas Eve 1979 at San Gregorio Beach, about a half hour South of San Francisco. I ignored the sign that said BEWARE OF DANGEROUS CLIFFS and waited for the romantic moment. The rain stopped, the clouds parted, and a single sunbeam shone down upon us. I waited. Cliff turned to me and said, “Will you marry me?” Now you have to understand I thought every marriage proposal consisted of the guy getting down on one knee, but I was soon to learn the lesson that this is not standard proposal procedure for everyone.

I had to ask, “Is this a proposal?”

Cliff said, “Yes.”

I replied, “Yes.”

Later I asked him why he didn’t get down on one knee. Cliff explained that he didn’t want to get his dress slacks dirty on the wet sand. Makes sense now, but at the time I was confused. Almost 32 years later he still teases me about how I didn’t know he was proposing.

There are many good qualities in the man God gave to me. Here are 10 things I like about my husband, Cliff Silliman.

1. Cliff is DEPENDABLE. If he says he is going to do something, I know I can count on him totally.

2. He is PROMPT. Cliff feels it is honoring to another person to arrive at least five minutes prior to the arranged time. We have a clock or two in every room of our home, but it is still a struggle for me to be on time—I’m just not a clock watcher—but I AM getting better at it, thanks to my dear husband. I was late to get engaged and he’s never let up teasing me about that either. Hahaha!

3. My husband is a COMMUNICATOR. He likes to share insights into God’s Word, what’s going on in the world, and/or his latest bowling experiences. Anyone who knows Cliff, knows he likes to talk! I couldn’t have married a man who was shy or quiet, because I like to talk too. One of my favorite things is when he shares at church meetings and the Holy Spirit works through him. Cliff can get quite fired up and start preaching his heart out. It’s awesome when that happens.

4. Cliff is a STORYTELLER. I like that! I think stories capture people’s attention and communicate a lot of information in a fun way. Cliff tells stories about his colorful past; growing up in California in the 50’s, drug dealing on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley and being a Hippie in the 60’s, growing with God in the Jesus People Movement and living in Christian community with a bunch of Jesus Freaks in the 70’s, married life with me and father to eight in the 80’s, 90’s, and to present day!

5. My husband is a STEADY going guy. I can be quite changeable. I like to say “It is a woman’s right to change her mind.” Cliff is a good match for me and God knew it. I am right brained and in the creative flow and daydreaming. Cliff is left brained and sticks right to his routine and his logical thinking. I like to be spontaneous and he is a planner. I don’t always think things through, but Cliff ponders the outcome of his choices. Cliff plods steadily like a horse to the plow and I like to run full steam ahead, back track, make a couple of loop-de-loops, and then sit and daydream awhile. He puts up with me so well.

6. Cliff is a HARD WORKER. What a good quality! He has provided for our big family for all these years and even worked two jobs when necessary, so I could be a stay-at-home mom with our eight children. (Four are grown and on their own now, so we only have four sons at home now.)

7. I like to joke around and have fun and laugh and be a big kid, so I’m thankful God gave my husband a good SENSE OF HUMOR. With a last name Silliman, you can’t be too serious!

8. Cliff is AFFECTIONATE and likes big hugs and to cuddle and well…you know…to be romantic. (Despite his stunt on the cliff of San Gregorio Beach when he stood up for his proposal.)

9. My husband is excellent at MAP AND MATH USAGE. He takes care of all that left-brain stuff. He enjoys figuring out directions and doing all the accounting and the business stuff in our lives. Yay! (I had my own checkbook for a few months and made a royal mess of it and I have a hard time finding my way back to my car when I go to the grocery store.)

10. Cliff LOVES GOD with his whole heart and mind and strength! He has dedicated his life to following Jesus and has an unshakable faith.

What an awesome man I am married to! Happy Valentine’s Day to you, Cliff!!!

What's your heart full of?

Since Valentine’s Day was this week, we’re celebrating Love in general, and our spouses in specific, here at Kingdom Bloggers this week.

My husband John and I wed in July 2005. This wasn’t either of our’s first marriage and we’d both been single for quite a while. We were both grateful to God to have found one another.

I’d been dating quite a bit the couple of years before I met John and was basically burned out on the whole process. I’d found to my great disappointment that even people who said that they were Christians did not necessarily live by Christian values. So you can imagine my great delight (even if I was a bit uncomfortable) when on our third date John turned to me and looked me straight in the eyes and proclaimed “I don’t believe in having sex outside of marriage. Do you?”

John was a breath of fresh air in a world where it seemed everyone was pretending that doing things their own way was OK, and that God didn’t really mean what He said in the Bible. I appreciated a man who not only lived out His faith, but who also made himself accountable to stay true to what he believed.

The fact that we both have the same faith has made all the difference in the world to our relationship.

Getting married when one is older brings with it a whole set of challenges. John has likened our relationship to the merging of two great and mighty rivers; of course there is upset/friction when they come together. Since we’d both lived many years prior to our coming together, each had a few children (he 6 and me 3), and both had careers, we were fully developed people (rivers vrs streams) and our merger has sometimes created big crashs/splashs.

But we both love God and want His will more than anything else. We both pray. God has been so good and so faithful to open each of our eyes over the past few years to new ways of thinking and doing things. John says that he thinks marriage is great because it helps you become less selfish. He says that he thinks it’s easy when you’re single and are doing everything your own way to think you’re so spiritually mature, but then you enter into a relationship and no longer live just for yourself, then you find out how mature you really aren’t.

Another phrase of John’s that I appreciate is that he says that we’ve just got to give each other a lot of grace, just like Jesus gives us.

I feel so grateful to God for John. This man really loves me. This past Saturday, we were celebrating Valentine’s day early since Monday would be a work day. During the course of our time together John referred to that Bible verse from Ephesians 3:20 that talks about how God can do more for us than we could even imagine, than our wildest dreams. John talked about how grateful he is for our wonderful home in the mountains, and for getting to have me for a wife. It blows my mind that he actually sees me as such a great thing!

So during this Valentine’s celebration I have a heart of thanksgiving for this man with whom God has blessed me.

What about you, what's your heart full of at Valentine's Day?