Thirteen

Yep, that's how long we've been married.  Monday marked the big day.  I am so amazed at how God put us in each other's paths at such a perfect moment. 


We first crossed each other's path sixteen years ago, when I was home for the summer after my sophomore year of college.  Tom had just finished his first year of teaching, and I was home to make some money for the upcoming school year.  It was then that we started hanging out in the same group with other college kids from our church.  If you didn't know already, Tom and I grew up in the same church and went to the same high school, but never were part of the same crowds with Tom being older than me and all :) 

Tom played softball for as long as I could remember, and my dad was the manager/coach of our church's softball team.  It was after a game that Tom invited me and some of my friends to go eat afterwards.  After another ball game, Tom decided that he wanted my company only.  So he asked me to go to the races with him that weekend.  I said that I'd like that, not really knowing that the races were not going to be my thing, but I really wanted to get to know him better, so I said "yes".  Unfortunately, there was a conflict, and we couldn't go to the races, so we ended up coming to Wichita and playing mini golf and eating at Old Chicago.  We came here never knowing that one day we'd be living here. 

Little did we know what life had planned for us.  We've been through our share of ups and downs.  Being a newly married couple, in a new city, with a new job, in a new apartment was how we first started out.  We were completely at the mercy of what God was going to make of our lives. 

Our marriage vows said in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, in good times and in bad.  Boy were we tested with the bad.  Losing a child really took a toll on our marriage and family.  There were times that I didn't think I was strong enough to even get out of bed let alone return to my life.  Being a teacher was hard then.  But with God's help, both Tom and I were able to get through that very hard period in our lives.  Don't get me wrong, we still have moments where that pain and sadness creep into our beings, but God has truly blessed us with more than what we lost.

 

 

 Like our two beautiful kids, that we have the special privilege of parenting.  No one tells you how hard this parenting thing is.  I was not prepared for the loss of sleep, late nights, complete lack of privacy, and constant picking up toys.  Not to mention, the things that we weren't told about a two and three year old.  Those years were hard, and now we are starting all over again.  But our kids are a lot of fun and have blessed us tremendously. 

Our little family has grown and we've learned a lot in the past 13 years, but I know God still has a lot to teach us and we are growing in our faith daily.  We don't always do things perfectly,  our kids are not well behaved, we love the Lord and don't always make the time we should for Him, and we do most things on the cheap, but it's the life we've been given and we are doing what we can to make the most of everything we're entrusted with.

 So, this leaves me wondering what's in store for the next 13 years.  I can hardly believe that I have almost been with Tom longer than I've been without him.  He is my best friend and we sometimes communicate without even saying anything at all.  We are proof that God knew what He was doing by putting us together. 

Here's to many more years!!!!