WHEN YOU see Terry and Joanne Theis, you’ll likely see them holding hands. Even from a distance, you sense the depth of their love for each other. It’s the picture of their loving relationship that draws others to them. But it’s more than their love for each other shining; it’s their love of their Savior, Jesus, and the story He’s given them to share.
It’s a story that begins like many love stories—with stolen glances.
13-year-old Joanne was new to the Baltimore City neighborhood, where she frequently saw 15-year-old Terry playing baseball, basketball, or football.
“I just liked him from afar. I was riding my bike around and watching him. I’d asked my friend who he was, and she said he had a girlfriend, and I told her, ‘I don’t care,” Joanne said.
Terry said, “I was always in the neighborhood and happened to see her walking with her then-boyfriend, and I thought she was really nice, and I’d like to get to know her.”
Over a couple of years, they got to know each other and began dating. After high school graduation, on Christmas Eve, 1960, Terry proposed. He entered the Army and returned for their Thanksgiving Day wedding on November 23, 1961.
Within the first two years of their marriage, they bought their first home, and their children Karen and Kevin were born. Joanne was a stay-at-home mom, while Terry led a full life outside the home.
“I thought I had it all: a loving wife, two beautiful children, a job I loved as a pipe fitter, and I was still playing sports—semi-pro football, baseball, and basketball—all while serving as a pipe fitter apprentice. I was also going to school three nights a week. For five years, it was all about me,” said Terry.
Joanne said, “I knew our perfect family was slowly falling apart.”
Terry never sugarcoats his early way of life. “Unfortunately, I was a member of the ADU Club: alcohol, drugs, and unfaithfulness. Fortunately, I’m proud of where I came from.”
You can’t come “from” a place or thing without going “to” another. It’s where they were both led that gives them their testimony today.
“I knew Terry loved me, and I always forgave him every time he asked for forgiveness and promised to do better. Things would go smoothly for a while with him but always go back to the same thing,” Joanne said.
The summer of 1974 found her growing tired of the cycle, and a 10-day visit to former neighbors in their new Texas home gave Terry and Joanne an idea of how life apart from the other might feel. Joanne imagined a fresh start for her and the children in Texas while Terry felt the weight of their absence.
Their Baltimore neighbors kept inviting Joanne to church. Although she’d attended church before their marriage, Joanne says she didn’t have a relationship with Jesus. She accepted their invitation to church on January 19, 1975, and following a message that spoke directly to the details of her life, she accepted another invitation.
Joanne said, “I thought they’d told the preacher all about my life. Of course, I know now that the Holy Spirit was speaking to my spirit. When the preacher finished, I ran to the altar and turned my life over to the Lord. It was the best day of my life.”
A less than covert operation set an army of prayer into motion over Terry’s life. The church prayer list clinging to the refrigerator requested prayer for Joanne’s husband, and Kevin made sure the coffee table held stacks of religious tracts for Terry to read.
“I’d read the tracts and restack them the same way they were so Kevin would never know they’d been read. I listened to sermons and music by Jimmy Swaggart. Even at snack, I couldn’t get away from the conviction of the Holy Spirit,” Terry said. “Then, on our 14th anniversary,
Joanne asked me to go to church with her, and I thought I’d save money on a gift and go to church as a family.”
Joanne was surprised when he offered to go to Sunday school. “I thought to myself, ‘Wow, Lord, I didn’t ask for Sunday school, too.’”
As Joanne had, Terry felt the preacher knew all the details of his life, but Joanne had only asked them to pray that he’d be saved.
“I went to church to get Joanne off my back. The preacher pointed straight at me, and when the altar call was open, I was broken and convicted and went to the altar from our seat in the back of the church.
We’ve never sat in the back of the church since,” Terry said.
About two years later, a couple having marital problems contacted them and asked if they’d counsel them.
Terry said, “We sat down, and that’s where we were first introduced to counseling. We still do that together and love doing it and seeing changes in people’s lives. But it’s not because of us; it’s because of God. We’re certainly not professionals, but we tell people from the beginning we’re just going to share what the Word says and our testimony. We’re transparent. There’s nothing we don’t share if they ask.”
The most likely question is to Joanne: How could she forgive what Terry had done early in their marriage?
“The Lord gave me this illustration. You cut the tip of your finger, and it really hurts. As it heals, a scab forms and falls off, and it hurts all over again. But when it heals from within, all you have is the scar—no pain. God allows us to remember the hurt to share with others, but there is no more pain,” she said.
Terry said, “Joanne and I have always been in love. We’ve had more than 60 years of good days, bad days, good times, and bad times. But most importantly, [we’ve had] more than 60 years of love, growth, and maturity together. Joanne is loving, kind, compassionate, caring, tenderhearted, and selfless, always preferring others. I hope I can and will be all that my best friend wants and deserves.”
Joanne finishes, “God doesn’t waste a hurt, and He has used our testimony to share with others that there isn’t any marriage He can’t restore. Our prayer each day is: ‘Make us a blessing and allow us to be usable.’”
It’s a story of forgiveness and redemption as old as The Gospel, and Terry and Joanne are a living reflection of God’s love for us. GN
