Anniversary: Here's to Eight years!

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Today marks eight years married to this man. I truly can't even believe we have arrived at 8 years. Dear Jesus where has the time gone? And how have we been married for this long already? 

And in true anniversary fashion, I wanted to take some time to sit and reflect on this past year of marriage, just like I've done for all the years that have come before this one. So that is what I found myself doing on the eve of our anniversary. 

And I laugh because my post from last year talked about how our 7th year of marriage was our hardest one yet, and this one set out to be our best one yet, but we have experienced far more in the last month of marriage than we have experienced in our entire 8 years. Someday, when I have the time and the space to write about it all, I'll share, but today I find myself just reflecting on how good God is and how deep my love runs for my husband.

I never in my wildest dreams would have imagined I'd fall in love with a man from a different country. I never would have envisioned myself entering into a cross cultural marriage. I never would have envisioned I would be living the life that I'm living with the man that I'm living it with.

And if there's one thing I've learned this past year, especially this past month, it's that He is the author of our stories.

And He is writing a story I never would have written for myself.

And in that story there are chapters full of joy, chapters full of trials, chapters full of laughter, chapters full of grief, chapters full of triumph, chapters full of community and friends, chapters full of mountain top experiences and low valley moments, chapters full of growth and transformation, and pages soaked in tears and truth.

And what I've learned time and time again this year is that we really do trust that He is faithful and He is good even when the circumstances change and when something we've hoped for doesn't pan out the way we'd exactly envisioned, like when you get the job you'd been waiting 18 months for, only to realize it's not exactly as you dreamed it would be, or when you summit a mountain that you've talked about climbing for years and end up coming down in a helicopter or when you get a positive pregnancy test, see a heartbeat and walk away with an ultrasound photo, only to be told 2 weeks later baby doesn't have a heartbeat.

And when I think back on this past year of marriage, I almost can't wrap my heart and mind around all the highs and all the lows and all the grief that has covered it all, but one thing I can wrap my heart and mind around is the fact that no other human being knows the state of my heart better than my husband.

This last year, we learned what full surrender really looks like. We thought our 7th year of marriage brought us to our knees, but this year brought us flat on our faces, as we surrendered even more to the Lord and to each other, as we let go of all the things we were still holding on to.

I never would have written this story for myself, of unemployment, of near death experiences, of loss of life through a miscarriage, but in all honesty, it's brought us so much closer as a family and reminded us of the important things in life, the things that really matter and it has brought on a deep seated trust in the Lord and faith in Him and in His goodness and a sincere contentment and peace. 

He brought us together 8 years ago (read this from my aunt and uncle) and He is the one that continues to bring us together to this day. He is the one that brings us to our knees and into each others arms. He is the one that heals our hearts and brings us peace. He is the one that fills us and comforts us. I'm just so thankful that the Lord has used my husband in my life as an instrument and a tool for His spirit and His grace.

And I just praise God for bringing Peter and I together all those years ago, for writing the story of an American girl walking in obedience and signing up for a mission trip, which sent her to Ireland, and an Irish boy walking in obedience and signing up to volunteer at different vacation bible schools in his own country, which is where their paths intersected and intertwined.

We had no idea what awaited us, but He did.

He's always known. And for that I'm so grateful because it is so darn good.

May we continue to walk in obedience even when the going gets tough. May we never forget that He is the one that has called us to each other. He is the one writing our story.

Thank you Jesus for my husband, for the gift of marriage, for anniversaries, for writing our story, and for walking with us through all the seasons of life. May You be glorified by the way we walk it. And may You be honored always in times of joy and in times of grief. 

And may we be filled with anticipation as Your story for us unfolds as we continue to walk in obedience.

And Peter, I love you. Thank you for this life, for your partnership, for challenging me, for loving me, for making me more holy, for holding me, for sitting with me, for the joy and the laughter that fill our home, for wiping my tears and holding my hand, for your vulnerability. May we continue to delight in each other and may we never stop standing in the gap as we celebrate the joys and hold each others burdens.