December 18th

Well, folks, tomorrow is our 10 year wedding anniversary.

As I reflect on all the changes that the last 10 years has brought, it is amazing. To see where God has brought us...how He's led us as we've gotten there....and the lessons we've learned along the way...incredible.

Anyone who is married knows that marriage teaches you not only about your spouse, but also about yourself. Brandon and I were talking the other night about what we believe makes a marriage successful. We concluded that the success of a marriage depends, of course, on a shared belief system, but also, on the willingness of both partners to put their spouse's needs ahead of their own. I have been blessed to spend the last ten years with a man who consistently loves me as Christ loved the Church. I am very humbled. At our wedding, the Pastor's message was on Ecclesiastes 4:9-12. We have carried that Scripture with us throughout your marriage and it has been such a blessing to us, time and time again.

We have navigated a great deal over the last 10 years...having four children, telling one of them goodbye, job losses, a Master's degree, job changes, new houses, births, deaths, weddings, friendships...and the hustle and bustle that is simply life. I can't imagine that the next 10 years will be nearly as full as the last 10 years have, but somehow, with three children in our home, I know that they will bring a fullness that we have yet to discover. Along the way, there have been many times where complete brokenness seemed inevitable, and yet, we navigated trials together, and, often, our marriage came out stronger as a result of having to endure them.

There are many things that I love about Brandon. But I have to say that my favorite thing is that he is my best friend in the whole world. He sees the worst of me (including my hair first thing in the morning), and still stays. He lets me tease him and understands that sarcasm is often how I show someone that I love them. He encourages me, laughs with me, and takes the time to explain politics to me even though he knows there isn't much space in my brain to hear it. Conversely, he lets me talk through things 1,000 times, knowing that I need to process out loud (even when he doesn't have space in his brain to hear it). He does the dishes before sitting down to watch TV because he knows dishes in the sink make me crazy. He tolerates my intolerance of all things technical, and he knows that, chances are, I won't have my cell phone with me...but he still calls.

He is an AMAZING father to our children...my prayer for our daughters is that they find a man as wonderful as their Daddy is to marry someday...and that our son learns, through the example that Brandon is, of what it means to lead a family as a Godly husband. We've navigated so many things together...as husband and wife....but also as two people who genuinely LIKE each other. When I am with him, I have a strong sense that everything is going to be okay, which has been a gift to me over and over again in our marriage.

I look at our wedding pictures and think about how wonderful that day was, but I also have to think how naive we were at that time in our lives. I think "if we had known then what we know now..."

I am happy to say, even if we had known then what we know now, it wouldn't have changed a thing.

Thanks, Brandon James.

Two are better than one,

because they have a good return for their work:
If one falls down, his friend can help him up.

But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!
Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.

But how can one keep warm alone?
Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves.

A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.