Happy 19th Anniversary, Greg!

Bride and groom feeding each other wedding cake

Greg and I were married on May 28, 1994 at 3:00pm. We had over 300 people crowded into our home church near Columbia, SC, where Greg’s dad was the pastor and he performed a beautiful ceremony for us.

We had NO CLUE what was ahead.

How I wish that I had understood then what I understand now about God, myself, Greg, marriage, femininity, masculinity, our culture and so many things! That is often not the way life works. We sometimes learn things the hard way.

I am beyond thankful to God that He opened my blind eyes to my sin, disrespect, control, pride and idolatry 4.5 years ago and that He radically changed my life!

I can NEVER thank Him enough for the joy and peace He has given me in Christ. It has been ALL Him. I am capable of NOTHING GOOD on my own. Jesus is truly my EVERYTHING now!

I remember one of my biggest fears when I started learning about God’s design for femininity and marriage was that I was afraid one of us would die before we got to really do marriage right – God’s way.

I THANK and PRAISE MY LORD JESUS CHRIST that HE has allowed us to share the best years of our marriage these last few years.

To Greg,

How can I thank you enough for not giving up on me, for staying even when I was so very hard to live with – even as I blamed YOU for all of the problems for so many years? How can I thank you enough for the way you INSTANTLY forgave me of my 14.5 years of constant sin against you?

You rocked my world. I knew I couldn’t have forgiven you of anything that easily! I have learned so many good things from you. What an incredible example you have always been to me of patience, perseverance, a sense of humor and forgiveness.

How can I thank you enough for being SO ENDLESSLY PATIENT and KIND with me as I struggled to learn to be the wife God wanted me to be. I still have much to learn. I can’t wait to see what God has in store for us!

Thank you for your godly leadership. I am in awe of the way God has worked in your life and the strong, responsible, wise, consistent, level-headed, humble, selfless man and leader you are. I am SO VERY PROUD OF YOU, HONEY!

Thank you for taking the weight and burden off of my shoulders in our marriage. Thank you for being such an involved dad and husband. Thank you for keeping up the house and yard and cars.

Thank you for being such a good provider for us financially, emotionally and spiritually. Thank you for supporting my blogging and for the posts you write for the men on your blog!

When I first realized all I was missing as a wife about showing you respect, in December of 2008, I told you, “I don’t understand this respect stuff now. But when I finally get it figured out, I want you to feel like the most respected husband on the planet!” You laughed – in a good way. 

Thank you for asking me to share what God had taught me with other wives. When you said that to me, 2 years ago – it was the most incredible compliment and honor you have ever given me in my life. Thank you for your faith in God and your faith in me.

I’m so thankful for the gift you are to me. I pray that God will empower me to always bring you good, joy, blessing, peace, healing, comfort, encouragement, respect, admiration, trust, loyalty, partnership and team work. I pray that I might truly be the helpmeet God desires me to be for you.

I praise God for our 19th wedding anniversary today. Look how far He has brought us!

Happy 19th Anniversary, Honey!

With all my love and admiration,

April

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