20th Anniversary!

20 years!!!

How crazy is that? Today marks 20 years of marriage for Tom and me!

Wow, have we been through some stuff! But, we stuck it out. We stayed together. We chose to lay down our selfishness and CHOOSE the ACTIONS of love instead of the feelings of the moments.

We've had such a different journey than many people...so many stretches of time apart because of the military and jobs. I think it's made us appreciate our time together more though. We've come to recognize how trivial so many disagreements are!

I'm so grateful that we work at our friendship and enjoy being together even more after all this time.

How sweet it is to look back at all we've walked through together. How amazing to see the beauty that has come from our ashes.

At 19 years old, I left home with dreams in my heart of a happily ever after with my knight in shining armor! It didn't take long before it seemed more like a nightmare that starred an ogre and a maid! Ha!

The fairy tale seemed shattered, and I realized how little I knew about real life. Our marriage seemed over before it even felt like it had time to begin.

If not for the grace of God, we wouldn't have made it. I remember reading a book about how to pray for my husband, and that lady author had the nerve to suggest that he may not be the problem! I think I threw that book down three times before I allowed God to begin the work on MY heart.

We both brought garbage to our union. We both needed to be gutted, cleaned and restored!

We yielded.

We allowed the Lord to wash us by His Word and transform us into His image.

Now, we choose patience, kindness, gentleness, self-control...

We decided to open our eyes and play on the same team instead of against each other.

I'm so thankful we did.

Here's to another 20 and beyond Babe! I would do it all again.

You are everything I never knew I always wanted.

I treasure you.