wedding day10 years ago today, we said “I do” in the presence of great friends & family and our heavenly Father on a tiny island in the middle of a pond at a quaint country home in the styx of Alabama.  It was a wonderfully non-humid, mosquito-less, sunset ceremony where we encouraged shorts & sunglasses. The reception that followed had some of the BEST food ever presented at a wedding feast due to the amazing talents of our dear friend Deirdre and her great network of awesome foodies. We still brag about the incredible wedding cake, and how we couldn’t wait the whole next year to eat the top of our cake (so we consumed it on our month anniversary instead!). also on that day, we discovered that we knew how to throw a fabulous party together – great people, tasty food and memorable fireworks.

The past ten years have been anything but ordinary. I’ve never quite grasped all that God has wanted us to do, as individuals and as a couple.  But we have been blessed beyond reason.  I could not imagine doing life with anyone other than Jon.  In our 10 short years together, we’ve helped plant a church, bought 2 houses (one which we managed to renovate together), started a small technology services business, and endured several years of unexplained infertility.

While I believe that we have been pretty faithful to the tasks God asked of us, I know there have been several delays and detours in our journey. And while some of those times have been stressful, hurtful, emotional, annoying, saddening, maddening, and draining, I am so thankful to have Jon as a husband, as a partner, as a friend.

We’ve experienced some tremendous changes in our life, some for good, others for growth. We said goodbye to a ministry we helped start and it was like placing a child for adoption  - we had to walk away and watch someone else raise our baby. A baby we shared with others of course, but the decision and separation was excruciating for both of us. We are very thankful that the ministry is still going strong under the right leadership, and our obedience to God was worth the pain.

We had to say “See you later” to several close family members and life-influencing friends. Some were a surprise, others were not. While our cloud of witnesses may have grown, the void of their presence has been noticeable at times. We still miss Grandpa Morningstar, our very own little hobbit who passed away in September of 2005. And just this February, we lost Grandpa Gingerich, whose animated stories never got old.

Two unexpected losses were Patrick Daley and William Pufall, both of Pensacola, Florida. Both men were involved in our wedding. Patrick was our officiant, but he was first our friend, our mentor, and a dear spiritual father. I never imagined that he wouldn’t be around to celebrate our 10th anniversary. Will played his trusty keyboard for our ceremony. He thought my music selection was a bit odd for a wedding, since I adamantly wanted no traditional songs. But the good sport that he was, and the accommodating musician that he could be, Will twinkled out Darrell Evans’ Your Love is Extravagant with a smile.  My heart still misses both of these wonderful men of God and I am very grateful that both of them played a key part in our wedding day.

10 years seems like forever, but at the same time, it’s like a blink of an eye. And while I don’t expect the traditional gifts of tin or aluminum or the modern gift of diamonds from my dear husband, I know that he still loves me, and that I still want to grow old with him.

Our journey together is far from over, and our marriage will only be made stronger with time and God’s direction.  We didn’t know how life would look when we met that fateful evening in April 1998, but it’s been a wonderful adventure discovering all that God has for us. May we continue to pursue the will of God passionately for our lives.