Here we are, Dave and Linda Crites.

    We were married in 1962.  God blessed us with three sons, each of whom are serving God in their unique area of ministry, and who have now blessed our family with daughters-in-law and four beautiful granddaughters.

    During the early years of marriage, we were involved in almost every aspect of church service including music, children's and youth ministry, teaching Sunday School, and serving on church boards.  Later on in our marriage, we added home Bible studies, Senior Pastor, and now a traveling marriage ministry to our resume.

    In this most recent phase of our lives, we attend "River of Life Christian Center" in Riverside, California, with Pastor Richard Joy, who has recommended this ministry to other churches, as well as his own.

    Linda is licensed and Dave is ordained to ministry through Bethel Christian Center in Riverside, California.

    We were both raised in Christian homes, both accepted Jesus as our savior at an early age, Dave at age 12, and Linda was several years younger.   In the families we were raised in, if the church door was open, we were there.  We both grew up rather poor (we didn't know it, but we were), but that's where the similarities stopped.  From then on we were like oil and water.  There was very little we could agree on, except  getting married!  In our pre-marital counseling we were given a compatibility test that we failed.  We heard years later that the pastor who married us said he didn't know what he was going to do, we wanted to get married and we were not compatible.  You know, he was right, we weren't!  But when we started to learn how to surrender ourselves and allow God in our relationship, our incompatibility started becoming a strength, not a liability.   It was tough for the first 17 years, but wow, look what the Lord has done.

   There's hope for your marriage!