16 Years of Marriage

As the years go by and the number of years of marriage creep up, I become more and more aware of the amazing grace of God. At 20 and 21 we were ready to build a life together and start this adventure full of hope and basic plans: go to nursing school together, work a little, start a family and live life.

A year later, our first mission trip to Moldova shook our world in a good way. We began to see God's heart for the world clearly and wanted to be part of that mission of taking the Gospel to the nations. We finished school, went on more trips to Moldova and began working as nurses. We had our first child and in that time, God started prompting us toward seminary. Steps of faith and after 6 years of marriage and two children we took a leap and moved to Louisville, KY to follow God in international mission work.

Our time in Louisville was full of family, work, school, church and life that had many highs and many lows. We helped with internationals in our apartment complex and learned everything we could. We enjoyed having Becca live with us as our family grew from 4 to 9 in seven years! We learned together and grew together in ways that I still cannot believe to this day. And as Jim neared graduation, God clearly said go back to Smyrna First!

This is not what we had planned. Not at all! But another leap of faith returned us to Smyrna/Mableton and we have been back almost three years (adding three more little ones come July). This last step has grown our marriage in ways I could not even fathom as a 20-year-old newly wed. And in many ways this last year has been the sweetest one yet.

Except for the national health crisis this past quarter, this has been the most stable year of our life. By stable I mean consistent schedule, no major moves, same job, same hours, no school and no major changes. I didn't know it was possible. But in that stability we have found each other in deeper ways, enjoying life together, raising children, working, being part of the local church and doing life for the glory of God.


This year we have found a rhythm that puts God first, marriage second, children/home third and everything else that needs to be prioritized in its place. That's not to say we always get it right. There is always tweaking and sometimes second guessing. But we are seeing the joy that comes from following God's design for marriage, family, home, church and ministry that gives life in the only way following God can.

While every year is a gift, a precious treasure to not take for granted, this year has been extra special. And what makes it even better is there is no particular reason why! It just has been. Most likely because by the grace of God we love each other more today than we ever have before and today we are more like Jesus because of the work the Holy Spirit has done in our lives. We still have a long way to go, but by God's amazing grace each year will be sweeter than the last and we will know even deeper the mighty love of God together.