A Promise Kept (Part 2) - Robertson McQuilkin

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A Promise Kept

Day 2 of 4

Guest: Robertson McQuilkin

From the series: My Decision, Part 2

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Bob: When Muriel McQuilkin was first diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, it meant a dramatic re-ordering of priorities for the McQuilkins. Eventually, her husband, Robertson, stepped down from his role as the president of Columbia Bible College and Seminary.

Robertson: A student asked me one time after I had resigned, a new student, came over and visited me. He said, "Do you miss being president?" And I said, "Well, you know, I never thought about it but, no, I don't. I like my assignment. I've learned to cook and keep house and garden, and I take care of Muriel. I love it."

Bob: This is FamilyLife Today for Tuesday, August 12th. Our host is the president of FamilyLife, Dennis Rainey, and I'm Bob Lepine. Robertson McQuilkin's life changed when his wife, Muriel, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, but his priorities didn't. Stay tuned.

And welcome to FamilyLife Today, thanks for joining us on the Tuesday edition. I remember the first time I read the story of Robertson and Muriel McQuilkin, it was in an article, I think, in "Christianity Today," and I remember thinking, "That's powerful. That's a great demonstration of commitment and love." You remember reading the same article, don't you?

Dennis: I do, I do. I wept as I read it. I mean, it's just a great story of a man's covenant commitment to his wife and, Bob, if there has ever been a day when there needed to be stories like this told on radio, it's today, because we have diminished marriage in terms of its covenant and its commitment and what love means to such a degree – well, divorce has replaced it all, and I think, as a result, as a nation, we suffer from a profound mistrust of one another because we can't trust each other to keep the most sacred promise two people ever make to one another.

Bob: This week we're giving our listeners an opportunity to hear an interview that we recorded, actually, a number of years ago – almost nine years ago now – with Dr. Robertson McQuilkin. This is one of our all-time favorites, it's a classic, because it is such a profound love story.

Dennis: It really is. Robertson McQuilkin is an international speaker. He's written a number of books, he served as an international church planning missionary for more than 12 years in Japan and was president of Columbia International University for 22 years before he resigned in 1990, and you know that's the story, Bob. He resigned because he wanted to go home and take care of his wife of then more than 40 years, Muriel, who was suffering from Alzheimer's disease.

Bob: And after we read the article, we contacted Columbia and asked them if there was any audio recording of his resignation speech, and we're going to play an excerpt from that, and then we'll pick up with part 2 of a conversation we had nine years ago with Dr. Robertson McQuilkin.

Dennis: And as you listen to this recording, this is less than two minutes long, but I want you to listen to the resolute commitment of a man to his wife. This is some of the most profound audio you'll ever hear.

Robertson: [from audiotape.] I haven't, in my life, experienced easy decision-making on major decisions, but one of the simplest and clearest decisions I've had to make is this one because circumstances dictated it.

Muriel now in the last couple of month seems to be almost happy when with me, and almost never happy when not with me. In fact, she seems to feel trapped, becomes very fearful, sometimes almost terror, and when she can't get to me there can be anger, she's in distress.

But when I'm with her, she's happy and contented. And so I must be with her at all times, and, you see, it's not only that I promised in sickness and in health, 'til death do us part, and I'm a man of my word. But as I have said – I don't know with this group – but I have publicly it's the only fair thing. She sacrificed for me for 40 years to make my life possible. So – if I cared for her for 40 years, I'd still be in debt.

However, there's much more. It's not that I have to, it's that I get to. I love her very dearly, and you can tell it's not easy to talk about. She is a delight. It's a great honor to care for such a wonderful person.

Bob: That powerful, moving announcement has as much power today as it did when it was originally made. And, Dennis, I'm sitting here watching the man who made it, and it's moving for him to hear his own words 10 years later.

Dennis: That's right. Robertson McQuilkin joins us on the broadcast, and, Robertson, I've got to tell you, as I listen to your words, maybe it's because I'm meeting you face-to-face, but every time I hear those words, I get emotional because this is where life makes up its mind at home. It's a man keeping his word with his wife, and those were words, back in 1990, but we now have a decade that has followed where you have put shoe leather to those words, as you did resign, and as you did step away from being the president of a seminary and college that you loved; that you profoundly served in and for a number of years and had a great ministry. You had a speaking ministry around the country. You had a writing ministry, and you gave that up to go care for your wife, and as one who is a younger man aspiring to be a covenant keeper, and on behalf of many of the male listeners, and, for that matter, Bob, many of the female listeners, too, I'd like to say thank you – thank you for doing what you did. You did the right thing.

Robertson: Well, if God can use it, then I praise Him. It seems very unexceptional to me – just the natural thing to do. But thank you.

Bob: As you listen back, and I know you haven't heard that resignation announcement. It's not something that you play on your car stereo from time to time – it had to bring back that memory of being in front of the students, of making what you described there as an easy decision, and yet for a man to wal...