• I love his excitement and enthusiasm. He is a born encourager, who keeps me going when things start to get a little rough.
  • I love the way he understands and supports 100% my desires to be at home with our children, even though that means making sometimes making sacrifices and hard choices. He does this while still supporting my hobbies and other activities. He has pitched in on more than one occasion to help with fundraisers and special events for a group I volunteer with. He also takes me to fabric and craft stores whenever we drive by one…and then entertains the kids and lets me go off in my own little world. He gave me a card for Mother’s Day with a picture of kid feet sticking out between the grown up feet at the bottom of a bed that read, “Lately I feel as though something has come between us…I’m cool with that”. He really is. Have I mentioned he loves his family and he understands my overwhelming instincts to mother?
  • I love the way he is fiercely passionate and protective of the children in his life. He will not stand by and let a child (one of ours or one of his students) be taken advantage of or looked down upon. At school he is a fierce defender of “that” kid…the one who has his/her share of problems and as a result gets a bad rap from other students and teachers alike. He never gives up on a student. He is a phenomenal teacher that way.
  • I love his willingness to be vulnerable. He does not fear or hide from his emotions. He loves and misses Kenna every bit as much as I do. Even almost two years later its nice to know that he still feels the incredible depth of our loss.
  • I love the way at night, when the kids come in our bed, they snuggle with him as much as me. I love waking up to look over and see Tim and one of kids have adopted the same sleeping position. It seems small and inconsequential, but it makes my heart smile nonetheless.
  • I love the way he puts his family first. He barely hesitates to take time off if the kids or I are sick or to go on a field trip. He loves to come home at the end of the day as much as we love for him to be there. Everyone misses him so much during the day!
  • I love the way we can still talk for hours about anything. From political or philosophical, to faith or our family. Even if we are in agreement about a topic, we can discuss the merits and flaws in our position and end up strengthening our own convictions.

A lot can happen in 7 years, and a lot has. We may have been married young, but that doesn’t change the level of commitment and expectation Tim and I have for this marriage. I believe God expects big things of this marriage, and right now those big things come in tiny packages. We seek to honor God through our personal vocations and our family. At the same time, we are open to new journeys and adventures that God may have in store for us as time goes on.

We don’t have any big anniversary plans (we rarely do) but I know that today is always going to be special because it is the day this family started. I couldn’t have hoped for a better person to share that with and I look forward to all the ups and downs the next 7 years and beyond will bring.