To my husband...

It was almost nine years ago that we met at the YMCA. You were one dreamy catch at that front desk. *wink* I walked past you day after day...turning down date after date. While we had gone to youth group together all during high school and yet not met, had mutual friends at Malone...and still hadn't met, and then there we were at the Y...with you fixing my car in the dead of winter, me coming back to work just to fold towels so I could talk to you and become friends...God had a plan and a purpose for it all. It was a complicated start to a beautiful relationship.

Three years later, we were standing at the altar, pledging our covenant to one another in front of our family, our dear friends, and God. The six years that have followed have not always been easy, but they have been fruitful, just like He promises in John 15. We have been blessed time and again by our needs always being met, situations given to us to stretch and grow us, and always knowing that God's unconditional love and grace sustain us.

We were also given the most precious gift in any marriage...a tangible reminder of our love...our son. As I watch him grow up, and grow into that big personality God gave him, I know that you are influencing him in the best ways. He is strong and independent, and yet gentle and sensitive at times...and all the time...just darn funny. He loves his daddy...

As I look over the past six years, I am unbelievably grateful for your leadership and example in our family, your unwavering faith, your constant integrity and honor, and the way that you cherish both Caleb and me. We could not ask for me.

Happy Anniversary, baby...

Song of Solomon 8:6a, 7a (Amplified):
"Set me like a seal upon your arm, like a seal upon your heart; for love is as strong as death...Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it..."