A Decade

We weren't supposed to make it.

We were, I think she said, "a divorce waiting to happen".

And the other guy sighed, it's not a big deal, I was his "starter wife".

Even I was a little afraid. I'd never been one to finish things I start, and I'd never been in a relationship longer than 6 months.

Our wedding day was 6 months after the day we met.

We were supped to fail.

BUT GOD, in his sovereignty, knew my fickle heart and gave me a man that grounded it. He knew I was immature so he gave me a man with a looooooooong fuse and a gentle answer. He knew I was afraid of failure so he gave me a man who didn't have the word divorce in his vocabulary.

 When we met, that very first night, I knew right away I would know Mark for a very long time. I just knew it. So when the event that brought us together again took place I was not surprised. I wasn't surprised when he told his mom, the day after our first phone call, he'd met the girl he was going to marry. Wasn't surprised when he told me, on our first date, he was dating me with the intent to marry. Wasn't surprised when he took my dad out to breakfast one month after our first date to tell him his intentions. Wasn't surprised when, on May 5, 2002,  he proposed. And I wasn't surprised I said yes. 

(I am surprised, ten years later, that we have five children.) 

I get tears in my eyes, literally they're there right now, when I think about the intense amount of love I have for Mark. I thought I really loved him 10 years ago. I thought there was no better feeling than being a new bride, and starting off my life with this handsome, ridiculously funny, strong, thoughtful, godly man. But now I know him, really know him, and it is insane the gift God has given me. 

(And I laugh when I think about how much more I will know him 10 years from now, or 20 or 50.)

Our marriage is not without hardship, but we love on. We can hit a rock and find a hard place, but we love on. In the grand scheme of things, our tough is really not that tough. And our good is really, really, good. We will both tell you without a doubt that it is because our first love is for Jesus Christ and because of the sacrifice he made for us we find can pleasure in sacrificing for one another. 

Every once in a while we'll run into, or hear from the people that really let us know what a mistake we were making and I'm tempted to make-out with Mark like a lovesick fool right in front of them just to prove my point that if God is for us then who can ever stop us?  

Happy 10 year anniversary to my favorite person in the whole wide world. I love you!