six

Tonight I am still awake with nothing to do because I can't seem to find myself when my husband is not here. About this time six years ago was when I was leaving the church building where people (my friends and family) were setting up for my wedding reception for the following day. Before I left I ended up in a dark foyer having the "before marriage talk" with two great friends--one, the already married, and the other the nurse (was it dark? or is that just how I wish it was?).


As I reflect over six years of marriage I can't help but think of the miracles that Mark and I have witnessed. Here it is in a nutshell: Have faith. You are loved. When you are trying to do what is right the Lord will bless you.


The short version follows for those that care to read it. The long version would be well, really, really long. As it is the short version is pretty long. And I wish I had digital pictures of the first couple of years, and alas, no scanner.


year one.

This is when the fairy tale begins. I was never a girl that had a lot of daydreams about marriage, or my wedding, or any of that. I didn't really plan it at all. I just plowed through school and worked hard to do well in college because I wanted to be prepared for whatever life had in store for me. My prince charming came along a little sooner than I expected. But still, Mark in a very real way rescued me. Year one started and I was a week away from being twenty-one. That year began the best years of my life. When Mark and I were engaged we heard all of the comments about "the first year is the hardest," and "marriage takes a lot of work," etc, etc. Not that these things are necessarily false, but we heard so many negative comments--or jokes--about marriage that when someone actually said something about how great marriage is we found it so refreshing and encouraging. The miracle this year was being sealed together as husband and wife. We loved every minute of it. All year long. Now we make sure to tell engaged people about how great marriage is.


year two.

Towards the end of year one is when I became pregnant with our first child. We felt that it was a righteous desire for me to stay home with our baby but we had no idea how this was financially possible. I was set to graduate in May, the baby was coming in late August (or September, whatever). Mark was still beginning his career selling insurance and the way his job worked, when he didn't sell we didn't just not make money, but we paid for his office space (the nice little cubicle). It takes time to build a clientele and a profit and we did not have time. We prayed and prayed for help that things would take off with his business and things seemed to get worse. To make a long story short here is the rest: Finally he realized he needed to get a new job.

• Looked for a job while not making any money. I was working part-time tutoring through college. He felt like he wanted to get out of finance and into accounting.
• Got offered a decent job in finance that wouldn't start until November
• Through a service got a temp job working in accounting for PF Changs
• Heard of another accounting job at PF Changs that he didn't quite fit the criteria for
• All this while my belly is getting bigger
• Snagged the permanent job at Changs because his supervisor gave him such a good reference
• Was offered a better salary and a shorter commute than the finance job to begin on Sept 6th
• That's the day Dallin was born
• He started at Changs a week late but the nice lady pretended Mark started earlier so that he could get a week of paternity leave pay

Can you see the hand of the Lord here? Had a job in place to give us peace of mind and the other job was just waiting for the right moment to surprise us. What a blessing.

year three.

Watching a baby grow into a little boy

year four.

Adam was born this year. There is another long story here about faith and answers to prayers but really, it's too long. Lesson learned: pray and He will answer. If you are thick-skinned he will answer it over and over again till you get it. He is merciful. Sometimes repeat physical pain is even necessary if a person is really not getting the message. But in the end you will know you made the right choice because He was kind enough to tell you so clearly.

year five.

Watching two children so full of wonder makes you reconsider what is important in life doesn't it?

year six.

Still waiting for all that bad stuff that everyone talked about to happen.

Don't get me wrong, of course we have issues to overcome and problems and/or annoyances with each other, but the good FAR outweighs the bad. The cup is not half full. The cup overfloweth.

It's been a great six years sweetheart. Let's keep it up, shall we?