Tuesday November 9th was Mike and my 20th wedding anniversary. If you read my previous post you heard about the surprise super duper camera he bought as an anniversary gift. On Tuesday night he came home early from work to finish packing to leave for Ethiopia the next morning. I'd found a prime rib hiding in the freezer to make for dinner and also served giant Costco baked potatoes with all the extras added. The kidlets tummies were huge and bloated with beef when dinner was done. Those guys are all such carnivores. After the kids went to bed Mike and I opened a small bottle of champagne and got to visit just the two of us for about an hour. Not the most romantic anniversary that ever happened...but still a pleasure. I will always remember it as the anniversary that Mike left early the next morning to bring me home a child. As far as I am concerned there is nothing hotter than a man who travels around the world to bring me a new "baby".
As we celebrated our wedding anniversary we were really celebrating our "Family Day". That day twenty years ago Mike and I became a family. At our wedding there were also six children...Mike's two daughters and my four children. But even if we had been childless then, that was the day our family was formed. Mike and I and the Lord ARE the family. The children we had when we married and those we have added since then...are all welcomed members of our family....but Mike and I would be "family" with or without children. And we would NOT be family or anything for that matter without the Lord. I can say with 100% surety that if the Lord was not a member of our marriage...we would not be married. Most likely would never have been married.....but for sure we would not still be married. Mike is an amazing wonderful man but he is just as flawed a human being as I am. When things are going great...there is the Lord showing us it is Him who is blessing us. When things are going horribly , there is God ever ready..showing us grace and mercy. Teaching us about "do overs". In laughter and in sorrow it really always is about Him. All of it. Even when things are so stressful that both Mike and I could just about explode into a million angry pieces...There is our Father..wooing us from the side lines.."Do it My way" "show love" "show patience" "seek peace" "forgive" "Don't give up!" and like always.. "Just lean on Me". So Mike honey...I miss you so badly now when you are half a world away. You are my hero always and forever. Thank you sweetheart for your patience with me all these years. Thank you taking such good care of all of us and being such a good leader. Thank you for making me feel like the prettiest girl at a party. Thank you most of all for loving God and choosing every day to follow Him..on the easy paths and the hard, hard roads. It's all been a grand adventure and there is no one else I'd want to share it with.
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3 comments:
Congratulations!
A friend on an adoption list sent me your url. I'm having trouble reading because my eyes are filled with tears.
How wonderful the blessings you have received!
I adopted a teenage girl from China last year. She joins my three biological boys to make a family of four. Some days, it is all I can do to keep our little group going.
Yet when I hear about people who have taken an even bigger step...it's hard to describe...but it is as if my heart opens and lifts me up, like the wings of eagles...and everything seems a little easier.
Bless you for who you are and what you are doing!
I love your comment about there being nothing "hotter" than a man traveling around the world to bring you another baby! I feel the same way. Mine will travel for me in a few months. :)
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