Looking back, we were unprepared for what life was holding for us.  I was barely 23, he was 22 (2 months and 9 days younger...he still reminds me!) and we pledged our love, our life, our undying faithfulness to each other....in sickness and health, poverty, wealth..you get the picture.  We had this perfect picture in our mind's eye of what the future held for us.

If we had known then what the next 11 years would hold, I think we would have been very scared.  Oh, it's not been all bad (certainly not) but scary nonetheless.

I'm glad we didn't know that the first year was going to be so difficult.  We were so cash strapped that we often did laundry in our bathtub or the kitchen sink.  We ate lots of ramen noodles and grilled cheese.  Eating out was such a luxury that to this day I feel a tiny bit guilty sitting down with a menu in my hand.

I'm glad we didn't know that we'd only be in Wisconsin for 3 years.  We'd move to Michigan and serve a church we loved for 7 and half years and then have to move on again because of budget cuts.  I'm glad I didn't know how badly that would hurt.  I'm glad I didn't know that we'd wade through the waters of unemployment.  I'm glad we didn't know that God was going to miraculously provide every.single.need and even a few wants.  I'm glad I didn't know that my husband would go from youth pastor to warehouse hand...and hopefully (maybe soon) back again.

I'm glad we didn't know that God would give us 3 boys in just under 4 years.  Oh, I'm so thankful for them...but mothering boys would have scared me back then.  I'm glad I didn't know that my youngest would need surgery right after his 3rd birthday, and that I'd find a tumor on my middle son's leg (that tumor is benign...one of my favorite words...).  I'm glad I didn't know that my oldest would want to know everything and absorb it like a sponge...so much that it challenges me daily to feed his mind like I do his body.

I'm glad we couldn't forsee the tears, the hurt, the sorrow and the pain that 11 years of marriage brings.  I'm also glad we couldn't foresee the joy, elation and thrill that 11 years of a happy marriage brings....for I'm afraid we would take it for granted and not appreciate it at all.  I know that all marriages are not happy ones...and I'm so grateful that my best friend comes home each day and delights in being with us, his family.

I'm glad we entered in, naive and almost blind to how cruel the world can be.  I'm glad that God has seen fit to grow us in His all-sufficient grace.  I'm glad we have had the opportunity to fully trust God for everything.

I wouldn't change the last 11 years for anything.  I love my husband more today than I did back then (even though I never thought it would be possible....but it is). Here's to another 11 scary, wonderful, thrilling, loving years.

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