GENESIS 2:18
When their story hit the news in 2018, Merle and Stella Keena had shared a life of love and happiness together for 79 years. The flame showed no signs of burning out. Merle was 100 and Stella was 95 years old.
Merle was once sent to the nursing home and his wife had to bring him back because they could not stay apart.
They relied on some neighbours and grandchildren to keep the house clean and assist when Stella had to cook for her husband or do the laundry.
“I’m happy and he’s happy,” said Stella. “And when he’s happy, I’m happy.”
Stella and Merle’s life together is an example of Genesis 2:18, where God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.”
Eve was the perfect companion for Adam, and through them God instituted marriage, which is not only for the mutual aid of individuals but also to begin a family and to care for creation, which includes other people in the society. From that first family came a community so that, whether married or single, old or young, none of us would be alone. As a community, God has given us the privilege of bearing each other’s burdens (Galatians 6:2).
Dear God, thank You for creating man and woman for each other, thus instituting marriage, and for establishing community so that none of us are truly alone.
