Ten Years Later

It's a hard to believe that 10 years ago, today, I said "I Do" to my best friend. At 20 and 21, we were young adults seeking God's wisdom as to what He would have us do in the life He had given us together.

Our first four years were spent in nursing school, traveling to Moldova and hearing that initial call to international mission work, and working as nurses at Northside
Hospital in Atlanta. Just before our 5th anniversary we welcomed our first born, Jamey, into our family. Later that year I was called home and became a full time homemaker. Just before our 6th Anniversary we welcomed Lillian. Two months later we packed up our house, following the next step to international work, and moved to Louisville, KY.

These last four years have been far different than we expected. We came with a 5 year plan that is still changing as we go. Jim has been going to school and working to provide for our family, changing as needed to fit the family schedule best each semester. I have been at home, teaching our children, and finding ways to serve the Body and reach out to others around me. We have added Reuben, Gabriel and Samuel to our clan. It has been a crazy busy four years, but God has been teaching us and growing us in Christ-likeness from the moment we arrived.

Looking back at the last ten years is amazing and wonderful but also challenging. It is a reminder that marriage is not about making us happy or getting what we want, but it is a tool that God uses to grow us in Christ-likeness every moment of every day. To really love another is to put aside what you want and to sacrifice for the betterment of another. It is to treat them the way you desire to be treated. It is giving unconditionally of yourself and to seek their good.

I know that when we wed a decade ago I loved Jim very much. But today, I know that I love him far more than I ever thought I could because of the work Christ has done in me. I pray God will do exponentially more in our marriage in the next ten years and all the years after, so that when God calls me home and can be as much like Christ as I can be on this side of Heaven.

Happy 10th Anniversary, Jim! I love you!