ANNIVERSARY THOUGHTS

Mike and I,  Mother's Day 2012,  by the Shenandoah 

I can hardly believe we have been happily married for 23 years!  The Lord brought us together and He gave us 6 wonderful children.  It hasn't always been easy!  We have a very active family and we have had our share of accidents, sickness, ER visits, and hospital stays.  Maybe more than our share!  A large family means many bills and Mike had a job to meet those needs but he traveled a lot.  That is hard on a growing family.  It can be hard on a marriage.  Murphy's Law always came into play whenever Mike was away.  Anything from squirrels in the house, to a busted, frozen water pipe, to 2 flat tires at the same time, to getting up every 2 hours to fill the old woodstove on extremely cold nights, to chimney fires, to ice storms, to just plain getting on each other's nerves because Daddy was away too long.  That list could go on and on but that's just my side.  Not forgetting Mike who had to deal with all of this over the phone, trying to calm me down, giving me instructions, encouraging me, telling me that "Yes, Kerry, you CAN do this, because you have to."  Oh how he missed all of us!  We, at least, had each other.  He was alone, without his wife or his children, going back to an empty hotel room night after long night.  And did he ever stop loving me?  Not for one second!  What held us together?  Was it just our love for each other?  That is a big part, for sure, but that is not all, because what really held us together through all these years was the grace of God.  We both relied on the Lord to sustain us, to strengthen us, and to hold us together.  We have leaned hard on Him and He has upheld us.  We had to learn over and over how to trust in the Lord.  Our love for each other grew and it is wholly because of God and His great love for us.  Our "motto" truly is:  God is good, all the time!!  Happy Anniversary today, May 20, to my dear husband, Mike...I love you!!