21 Years With Beauty

Here's what I wrote about our 21st Anniversary this past February:

21 years ago today, after 26 days of dating and 3 months of engagement, Jill and I were married.

That we're still together after 21 years is not a surprise. Of course I'm amazed, thankful, awed, intermittently frustrated and hopeful, but not at all surprised.

I'm amazed because Jill is far more beautiful today than the day we were married - and that is saying a lot. What takes away my breath, though, is the depth of her beauty. It comes from a righteous heart tempered by many storms and struggles, that is determined to grow in faith. A heart that is determined to turn those struggles into victories. A heart that is growing in the realization of purpose and direction.

I'm thankful to a God that has never let us forget that we knew we were to be married and that divorce was NOT an option. More specifically, I'm thankful that on the days that one of us DID forget, the other one didn't. In the end, the fact that both of us have fought for the marriage when the other has forgotten has made what we have all the richer.

I'm awed by the character of Jill. She has stuck by a man that has not always been worthy. She has held tight to God and His promises even when I was working against His plan. She has advised, nurtured, loved and supported until the man that she saw and the marriage she believed in became a reality. She has also touched others, starting wih our children. I will never be able to repay her for the sacrifice, based solely on blind faith, of homeschooling Kayce and Jennah. They are what they are because their mom has laid down so much to just BE there.

I'm intermittently frustrated and hopeful because that's life. Our life is not perfect and we've both bent, twisted, altered and given up on our hopes and dreams until it hurts. Man it hurts. But then there's the deep place inside that says stop and look closer - WOW. I have hope that despite laying down so much, what we've built and will CONTINUE to build is far beyond anything I could've ever imagined.

Yes, I'm amazed, thankful, awed, intermittently frustrated and hopeful, but not at all surprised. I'm not surprised that we've lasted 21 years. The day we got married, we knew it was for life. That was our desire, hope and plan. And I'm not surprised that in the tough times - and there have been the worst imaginable tough times - God met us with exactly what we needed to stay together.

I'm not surprised there have been tough times. Joshua makes it clear why there are "giants in the land" and I'm thankful for them. We have a depth and richness to our relationship born out of those times. Jill and I have fought, clawed, sweated and bled for what we have and we are wealthy for it. We have lived life, and lived it to the full. And what a life it's been.

Happy Anniversary Jill.