Today is a Special Day

Today is a special day.

For Mike and me, today marks 24 years of this crazy adventure called marriage.

We were 21 and 22 years old when we got married on December 31st of 1994.

We were babies.

We were pretty much the first of our friends to get married and premarital coaching/counseling wasn't really a thing back then.

We had no money for a wedding, so our wedding day was truly a spirit filled day of two souls connecting, not the show it can sometimes become.

I wore my mom's wedding dress.

He rented a tux.

Our only splurge was on a fantastic photographer...

who didn't show up.

Grandpa video taped it...

He mostly got his shoes, and shortly after the wedding no one knew where the tape went.

Mike's dad married us. But not every one there knew it was his dad, so there were some questions after the ceremony as to why the preacher spent so much time watching Mike grow up.

After the ceremony, we headed to Mike's parents house for the reception. We hadn't eaten all day and knowing there was only wedding cake at the reception, his brothers stopped at Burger King on the way. The three brothers ate it in the driveway. I came out too late and they had already eaten mine.

After the cake was cut and the sparkling cider was toasted we came out to a car stuffed with decorations from the wedding and balloons filled with birdseed. We emptied it all on to the street and with cans dragging behind the car, Mike drove through Burger King to repay my missed Whopper.

That's why we eat a Whopper once a year on New Years Eve.

Although sparse, it was a beautiful day and I would not change a single minute of it.

The next 6 months were rough. We were young, inexperienced in relationships, and I did not have good marriage role models growing up.

After 6 months of a lot of strife, we figured some stuff out and things leveled out.

Just in time to begin mentoring other couples.

Our friends had started getting married and they were in much the same boat as us, except we had 6 months under our belts.

We had experience.

This turned out to be a blessing. It's sometimes easier to see other people missing the mark, and learn from their mistakes. Also, to help our friends with their marriages, we had to start reading everything we could get our hands on.

We ended up helping ourselves.

We learned how to serve each other.

and how to show awe

and how to fight fair

and how to show love in a way the other could receive it

and how to be best friends

and how to communicate in a way we could both understand

and how to respect our differences

and how to forgive...

Our first baby was born 6 months after our first anniversary. Then a baby every two years until there were four.

In 24 years

we moved 8 times

lived in 9 houses

in 5 states

served in 5 ministry positions.

There've been tears and disappoint and frustration and struggle. But mostly there has been so much joy and laughter that all the hard times were over shadowed by the good.

So many beautiful moments filled with grace as we chose to love unconditionally. As we learned what it meant to truly serve another person selflessly.

I am so thankful for the journey we have been on the last 24 years.

I am grateful for all of it.

Here's to another 24 years, my love.