Wednesday

Celebrating 20

I'm talking anniversary's here.

1990
The 1st is special because we actually made it a whole year & not many thought we would.  We broke all the rules when it comes to how long you should know someone before you say "I do".  On our wedding day, Scott & I had known each other exactly 11 months & 2 weeks.  According to statistics, our chances of staying married were really slim.

The 5th was important for me because our 4th year of marriage was really hard.  We had our 5th baby already.  Scotts' business was doing great, but he also was never home.  We had a small farming & ranching operation.  Small in that it was Scott, his dad & a few employee's and thousands of acres of land to farm & hundreds of cows to manage. I had 5 children 5 yrs & younger and was in complete survival mode.  When Scott was home, he was amazing with the kids.  I would take them out to the farm to see him & they loved that & so did he!

2004
The 10th was huge!  I got diamonds on that anniversary & I still wear the necklace.  July of 2000, we had our 7th child who was in a body cast because when he was born his hips were not properly formed so his hips would not stay in the sockets.  So, treatment was 4 months in a body cast.  In the midst of that, I was still struggling with post traumatic stress disorder as a result of the car accident I had 10 months prior.  I was depressed, often had panic attacks or flashbacks of the accident.  I was thankful to be alive to celebrate another anniversary with my husband.  I was even more thankful that he was sticking with me because I was not an easy person to be around during that 18 months.

The 15th anniversary, life was getting even harder than it was during the 10th. Scott's business was gone.  We had filed bankruptcy and watched as the farm equipment was auctioned off.  It was a hard time.  Scott had to start all over & began a new business in Real Estate.  We were told that Real Estate was feast or famine & we totally know what they were talking about.  We have experienced both...mostly famine.  But through all of that, Scott & I grew closer to each other as together we sought the Lord for wisdom & direction.



2009
Today is our 20th anniversary.  On our first anniversary we tried to think of what our life would be like on our 20th anniversary.  Well, it is nothing like what we thought it would be except that Scott & I are definitely more in love with each other now than we were even last year.  We have, together, experienced great difficulty in our lives but our marriage has only grown stronger.  We are best friends.  He is the one I want to tell my good news to first.  He is the only one I cry on. He is the one that can read me better than anyone, even me.  I understand now what that passage of scripture means when it says, "...the two shall become one flesh" Matthew 19:5  Scott & I are one in many ways, even in silly ways like finishing each other's sentences or coordinating our outfits without knowing what the other is wearing.  His pain is my pain & his joy is my joy.  We weep together and we rejoice together.  We celebrate our differences because that makes our relationship even more interesting.  He is a morning person & I am a night owl.  He is spontaneous and I am a planner.  He is risk taker and don't like taking risks.  He stretches me and I stretch him.  In the midst of all our differences comes a love that had to be born of God because I am not capable of love like this on my own.


What's our secret?  God.  We couldn't have made it one year if we had not committed our marriage to God.  We decided the first day of our marriage that it was for the rest of our lives.  We stood before our friends and family & made a vow, but even more important than that we made a vow to God.  Whatever happened during our marriage we would not consider divorce, we would take our troubles to the Lord and let him guide us through and he has done that very faithfully.  God has been faithful to us in spite of our unfaithfulness to him many times.

Thank you Lord for your beautiful gift of marriage and for blessing me with undoubtedly the most wonderful man in the world!





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