Silver Bells...

Summer 2013 a prophetic friend of ours heard God say "Silver Bells" while he was praying for Brooke and me one night. He was very hesitant to voice what else he sensed God saying, because he knows certain subjects are "delicate" and you could see on his face the internal argument he was having with God. We encouraged him to just say whatever he was sensing and we would ask God about it ourselves. He finally said he sensed there was a wedding in the near future...he didn't even know Emanuel was in the picture and he knew Brooke had never dated anyone, so this HAD to be God!  Sure enough a few short months after this word, Emanuel proposed and wedding plans were in full swing!  

June 14, 2014 we had a gloriously beautiful wedding and joyfully celebrated  the union of our daughter and new son. What a wonderful early anniversary gift to Eddy and me! Brooke and Emanuel may have heard wedding bells, but Eddy and I are the ones hearing Silver Bells...Today, July 1, 2014 we celebrate our Silver Wedding Anniversary!  25 years since we vowed before God, family, and friends our love and commitment to each other...til death do us part.  Wow!  

25 years ago, as we stood there in wide-eyed innocence, we never could have foreseen the hills and valleys we would travel together. The first eight years of our marriage saw eight moves, some across town, some across the country. In the first ten years of marriage, we were gifted with four amazing children. For our first anniversary we went out for a nice steak dinner, then ended the evening buying a baby stroller for our firstborn, who arrived the following month. We celebrated our tenth anniversary, also eating steak...this time cooked by Eddy's mom as we came home from the hospital following the birth of our fourth child.

25 years ago, as we vowed to love and cherish each other for better or worse, we had no idea just how good the "better" would be nor how bad the "worse" would be. The "better" has come in the birth of each of our children; in the people God has brought into our lives; in His beautiful creation and fun memories we've made on numerous trips we've been privileged to travel;  in helping start a church; and in the crazy-good, mind-blowing, more-than-we-could-think-or-imagine ways we have encountered God's Presence...
The "worse" has come in the numerous ways satan has attempted to steal, kill, and destroy our family...we have found ourselves walking through tragedies that we would have called our worst nightmares, BUT GOD...Greater is HE in us than he in the world!

25 years ago, as we vowed to love and cherish each other in sickness and health, we had no clue just how "sick" I would become with each pregnancy, or that Eddy would end up bedridden in 2008 and end up having back surgery...or how many injuries and illnesses our children would face through the years. We certainly had no idea we would end up in a ministry as wellness advocates with an essential oils company, educating others on natural "health" and wellness products!  Never in our wildest dreams...

25 years ago, as we vowed to love and cherish each other for richer or poorer,  we naively thought "richer" was something that happened through hard work and credit cards...Little did we know the many miraculous ways we would experience Jehovah Jireh's provision and abundance.  We never would have imagined we'd be celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary on the first of July and that Eddy would be leaving his job of nearly 28 years on the 31st of the same month, not knowing what God has next for us...making us wonder how "poor" will we actually get??  ;-)  As God would have it, a few days before our Silver Anniversary, we achieved the rank of Silver in our "biznistry"!  God is so good and oh so faithful!!

The day Eddy told me he was leaving LifeWay, I hugged him and told him there's no one I'd rather walk through this with. We are on a faith-walk...our current theme song's lyrics give a pretty clear picture of where we find ourselves in this season...
Spirit, lead me where my trust is without borders
Let me walk upon the waters wherever You would call me
Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander
My faith will be made stronger in the Presence of my Savior...

As I look at pictures of our wedding day compared with pictures in more recent years, I can honestly say I'm a happier woman today than I was then. The difference?  Today I know who I am in Christ. Today I know HIM more intimately and because HE fills me up with HIS sweet love, I am able to love my husband, family, friends, and strangers more fully...out of the overflow of that with which HE fills me up...

Have there been bumps along the way over the last 25 years?  Absolutely!
Will there be more bumps during the next 25?  Yep!
25 years ago we truly had NO IDEA what we were getting ourselves into or what the future held, but we did know one thing...our vows were more than mere words and our commitment was very very real. I'm reminded of an old hymn that was actually scripture set to music...
...for I know whom I have believed , and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day...
HE IS ABLE!
If Eddy and I had relied on our own strength during the difficult days, we would've thrown in the towel long ago and made up an excuse for why our "commitment" wasn't real...
BUT GOD...
God is ABLE!  Able to keep what we committed to Him on July 1, 1989, even when we were shaky, even when we've said unkind things to each other, even when it felt like all of hell itself was coming against us...HE IS ABLE!  Able to take two weak human beings and strengthen us to do the impossible. Able to take our hands and lead us out into the unknown as we continue this faith-walk He's called us to. 

I am blessed beyond measure to get to walk it out beside this wonderful man who seeks God first, who loves, cherishes, and serves me with such a humble heart...
I truly am more in love with him today than the day we married and I'd say yes all over again!
I have a feeling the best is yet to come!