Wow, every night that i snuggle in beside my hubby, i think, am i really married to this guy?! and i’m still so in love with him? and i grin and get all warm fuzzies n give him a tight squeeze just to make sure he is actually there beside me, and also because i want to take advantage of every day we have together. life is short and i don’t want to live with or create regrets. everyday is a gift and it’s been one of our greatest keys in our happy marriage-opening every moment as a beautiful treasure. {honesty & patience are 2 more very important keys!}
Looking back, I smile.
As a young girl I so desperately wanted to get married and depend on my husband to take care of me…I dreamed and prayed for him many a night, even before I knew his name. As I matured into a young lady and in my relationship with God, i really felt Him calling me into ‘something’ – and as it turns out it was something[s]! At this point i was like, no….this whole marriage thing can just wait, i’ve got some things to do and so i think i need to learn how to pave my way a bit…and i always depended on everyone else to get me thru life as my sister just older than me is very capable! maybe start dating at 22 n get married at 23..{i’m not specific at planning am i? just thought it’d be perfect!} [wow] From age 15 to 19 I worked at home with my Mom and we had a daycare in our home, taking care of anywhere from 2 to 11 kids. At age 19 old I went to TN to teach 3rd & 4th grade. absolutely loooved it and wanted to teach again, but the door just seemed to be closed and God led me to go work for my brother that year, rest of 2009, [they had twin babies n i also homeschooled my niece in grade 1]. now it’s 2010 and i’m 21! {meaning: i’m responsible for all my own money-not a big whoop-dee-deal to me!} in January & February i did a 8 wk mission trip to Ukraine, came home for a month and moved to El Salvador for a schoolterm at a deaf school where I served as the dorm mom for the lil girls that attended the school, plus did all the washing and cleaning for the house where all of us staff lived. that year had such a huuuuuge impact on my life, there is NOway i can even begin to describe what all i learned and experienced there. to name a few: living with people as family that are not your family. the language of deaf people. the cultural barrier that is there whether one wants it or not & how to handle it-GO all the way their way as MUCH as you can! Jesus as my true Father, relying on Him instead of people. how the US needs ‘missionaries’ just as badly as any other country. and probably the most important-putting my future ENTIRELY in His Hands and LeTTiNG Go.
Coming back to the US at the end of that year, 2010, I didn’t know where I belonged. i hadn’t really been committed to any church (i resisted being where I was before I left, but during that year in ES i could look back and see God really was directing me for the bigger picture, each place and experience being a stepping stone, and came to a beautiful peace that I was to go back to MO as a ‘holding place’ until God shows me the next step.) My sister got married in the next month. and so it was January 2011. i finally buckled down & bought a car and got a job at a bulk food store, actually really enjoyed the work. but was getting restless……. so..i get a phone call to come teach school in Colorado a few months later, tough one but after much praying i decided to go and was getting all excited about it! dontch’ya know, a couple weeks later….the man i fell in love with way back in 2008 called and asked me out on a date!! I was so excited and of course said YES. we went out on our first official date June 17th, 2011. you can read *our story here*. we got married on May 19th, 2012, and thus begins ‘our life together on this blog’ 🙂 ***blows kisses to all***
