Seven years ago today, I became Corey's wife! With all that is going on in our lives right now, I admit it took a few minutes this morning to remember what a momentus day today is. Lately I have been a little lazy and waiting to get up until I hear Emma, but this morning the Lord woke me up a little earlier than usual and I had a few minutes of quiet time. Without a formal bible study going on right now I often have trouble figuring out where to start in the Word, but this morning I went straight for the verse we claimed as our own seven years ago today. Romans 12:12 says, "Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer." We engraved the words, "joyful, patient, faithful" in our wedding rings as a reminder of the pledge we made to each other that day.
We have been together for almost 10 years - we were 19 when we started dating, and this October we will celebrate our 30th birthdays. It has been a wonderful life together so far! I won't claim its been perfect, or that either of us are perfect, but certainly we have been blessed. The longer I know Corey the more I appreciate the gifts he has been given and realize how rare this man is - he is generous, with me, with his time, his money, his gifts; he is unselfish, always putting others first and putting his own needs last; he makes me laugh - a quality that I think is often underrated! I have full confidence in his love for me and commitment to me and our family, and I can't imagine a better life.
Looking back at our verse, I realize that we set the bar really high! It is a calling I know I want to live up to, but that I know I don't always reach. I need to be characterized by joy and the hope I have in Christ, and live that out in my life, and my marriage. When I suffer, others should see a patient waiting on the Lord for deliverance, or maybe even just a willingness to trust that even in that place, He is there and that is enough. And my prayers, they aren't always so faithful. I need to lift up everything to the Lord, at all times.
The Lord has been so good to me, to us. I told Emma this morning that today is our anniversary and that we had no idea 7 years ago that we would have her or that we would be just weeks away from welcoming baby Addie to our family. If we could have designed our lives ourselves we couldn't have imagined a life this wonderful. Thank the Lord it is not up to us! May we continue to grow in our faith, to strengthen our marriage, to learn to honor God in all we do, to raise our children to glorify Him...