17 years

For each year of our marriage I write about us and attach a song to our year...here is the 17th edition...

We’ve walked through life as best friends more than we haven’t…we met when I was barely 18.  You know me better than anyone else and I know you—your thoughts, hopes, and fears more than I know anyone else’s.  I really like that intimacy, even though sometimes it’s so vulnerable and raw.  

This year has gone by so quickly…we have a middle school-er, a 4^th grader, and our baby is in kindergarten.  Where did the time go?  You keep our lives interesting and I love it.  You’re teaching our boys to become men and our daughter to be loved without strings attached or conditions.  Our church turned 10!! Remember when we nervously, with nothing but faith and a call, stepped onto that limb convinced we had to do…you’ve always been so courageous to run after what God puts on your heart…you were created for this!  Risking all but really nothing to lose when you know we are led by God.  We’ve been blessed to share God’s story of His church to 1,000s this year and that’s brought more adventures, some to even beautiful places that I won’t soon forget.  We’ve seen beaches, met the florida mouse, and spaceships, rivers and lakes…This journey continues to humble us.  I am sure that God’s favor in multiplying churches is bringing Him glory and changing lives; ours and our kids included.  

17 years…that’s almost the amount of life I’d lived when we met—I can’t see where you begin and I end in a lot of ways.  There’s a quiet confidence to our love.  It’s stood the test of some time through the years…we’ve fought hard, cried, we’ve apologized and we’ve grown up.  We have our recurring conflicts but they really aren’t often new things—we know each other’s tendencies, fears and weaknesses and when living in the Spirit this is the safest place to be.  You’re steady.  You’re unwavering.  You want to include me and our family in your life and not keep us separate.  You carry much weight, sometimes unimaginable weight of decisions and messy lives…yet our love grows deeper, sustainable and comfortable while sharpening us to be the best us. 

This song says a lot about love that lasts from 23-70, I’m here for you.  I have days where it feels as though I fall in love with you all over again…I’ll sit under the stars with you and dream and discuss our day and our kids and our life…it doesn’t matter who knows you or what successes or failures life brings…I’ll be loving you right where you are.

I wouldn’t and couldn’t ask for more.

Ed Sheeran, Thinking out Loud

And darling I will be loving you 'til we're 70
And baby my heart could still fall as hard at 23
And I'm thinking 'bout how people fall in love in mysterious ways
Maybe just the touch of a hand
Oh me I fall in love with you every single day
And I just wanna tell you I am

So honey now
Take me into your loving arms
Kiss me under the light of a thousand stars
Place your head on my beating heart
I'm thinking out loud
Maybe we found love right where we are

When my hair's all but gone and my memory fades
And the crowds don't remember my name
When my hands don't play the strings the same way, mm
I know you will still love me the same