10 Years Ago...

I married the man of my dreams. Little did I know, I would love him stronger and deeper today than I did back then. Oh, I loved him 10 years ago, in fact I was smitten with him, I really thought he was perfect! The beautiful thing about it is that I know now he's not perfect (neither am I), but I love him just as he is. I'm amazed every day at our relationship and how God has made our marriage so strong and how He has taught us how to love each other in a selfless manner.

Here's our love story: Greg was stationed at Moody AFB in Valdosta Georgia back in 1997-1999. While there, he attended the church that my family attended (the same one I grew up in). We were both in the college/singles singles group, and were around each other in a group setting all the time. As time passed, I found that I was drawn to him. He was a godly man, one who trusted God and followed him; he was a kind and generous man; he was a leader and very compassionate. To top it off, I thought he was a hottie! We started spending more time together, but we we were still just friends. In October of 1998, I started praying that God might have a future for Greg and I, or that he would take away the feelings for him that had found their way into my heart. As a couple of months passed, I was sure that he was the one for me; but Greg had obviously not gotten that message! In February of 99, Greg shared with me that in June, he would be moving to Spokane Washington. I was so sad, I was starting to believe that nothing was going to happen, and I would have to settle for a friendship with the man that I wanted to marry. I was falling for him more and more. I wanted to believe that he was falling for me to, due to the amount of time we were spending together, even though we were just friends! In April, after being at Greg's house, with some other friends, he called me as I was heading home; it wasn't uncommon, we talked all the time. After being on the phone for a few minutes, he said he wanted to ask me to pray about something. I said okay. The words that came out of his mouth shocked me....he said we should pray about what the Lord might have for US. Us, he really used that word. I told him of course I would pray; little did we know, for the last 6 or so months, we had separately been seeking God's plan and praying for wisdom concerning us. So, the next weekend, we had our first date. Finally, it was just he and I; it was a great night, and I must say that I KNEW he was the one for me. From then on, we were together every day, and we spent a lot of time talking about us and our desires for the future. Four weeks after Greg asked me to pray about our future, he proposed to me; my answer was YES! We dated for a short time, but we both knew the outcome, because we had already been friends for a year and we had been praying about it long before Greg had mentioned it to me. Greg has always said his big hang up was our age difference...he's 11 1/2 years older than me...that seemed like a lot when he was 32 and me 20 (our ages when we married). In June, Greg left GA to go to Washington, he would be stationed at Fairchild AFB in Spokane. While he was getting settled, I was planning the wedding and counting down the days until I would see him again. On July 24th, 1999 we said I do; I thought our wedding day was perfect and beautiful. Greg surprised me with a cruise to the Bahamas for our honeymoon, after a one night stay in a bed and breakfast in St. Augustine that I had always thought was a romantic place. Eight days after we married, we made the move to Spokane WA. Greg had already been living there, so he had our first home set up for us. I think the best thing for us is that we were in a new place, just the two of us. We learned to rely on each other and establish a friendship that has turned into best friends with one another.

Thank you to my dear husband for 10 sweet years, I love you more than words can say, and look forward to growing old with you. Thank you for your commitment to me and our family, you are my knight in shining armor.