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Thank you for 10 years

I have high aspirations to actually use this blog. I write often. Just haven't been in a good rhythm to share my thoughts, trust me there are many. So for now I will enjoy the time that I chose to spend writing.

I am spending this evening, the eve of our tenth anniversary watching Levi bake. Literally. I am sitting on our kitchen floor watching him make rolls and pies. He hasn't worked in a professional kitchen for years now but he's still got it. But that is not just my opinion. In fact those words came from his own mouth. We are reflecting on what the past TEN years have meant to us. The good times. The bad times. The scary times. The hilarious times. The adventures, man have we been on a few. The one thing we both keep coming back to is this,

WE COULD NOT HAVE MADE IT THIS FAR WITHOUT YOU.

It's a true statement. You know that saying "It takes a village to raise a child"? We are that child (and not just because we were literal children when we got married. Okay, 19 is not a child but ya know) and you are that village.  So I am writing today on behalf of both Levi and myself. We want to say thank you. 


THANK YOU to our families. Our families who stood beside us when we decided we wanted to get married at such a young age. Our families who reminded us of the commitments we had made when times got hard. Our families who validated our frustrations in marriage but still called us to be better. To remind us of the good in each other. Our families who have loved our children. Who have cried with us as we have navigated two sick kids. Who take care of our babies when we can't. Family that is always always always there for us. Thank you. 

THANK YOU to our friends. Friends who stuck by us when things got scary and unknown. Friends who weren't afraid to speak truth into our marriage when times got challenging. Friends that we could turn to when the going got tough. Friends who shared their own struggles in marriage so that we didn't feel alone. Friends that said "yup, marriage is hard. What are you going to do about it? What are you going to do to heal your own brokenness so that you can love better?" Friends who have walked into our darkest moments and sometimes said nothing but just sat with us. Friends who showed up to funerals, births, doctor appointments, college graduations, job changes, moves, etc. Friends who just showed up. 

THANK YOU to Christ. Jesus called us to love one another. To love well. To be the Samaritan. To love even when you didn't feel like it. Let me tell ya, there have been times over the last ten years that haven't felt loving. But love, love is a chose. Christ calls us to love. He taught us that in his perfect love he died for us. He then called us to do likewise. We are only ten years in and we are still working on the sacrificial love. Christ has loved all of us. If he loves all of us, we can love all of each other. 

I don't know the statistic of marriages that end in divorce after having ill children but I know its high. I know it's even higher with two sick kids. If is wasn't for all the reasons listed above I am not sure where we would be today. Our marriage is far from perfect. We have gone through seasons of doubt but we haven't given up on each other. We won't, because we have our village. 


Both of these pictures show our true selves. Exhausted. All the time. Just kidding. But really. Weddings are exhausting. Hiking the Liberty Lake Loop is exhausting. But I wouldn't want to be exhausted with anyone else. ;) 

Also, Levi told me our relationship is a middle schooler because we have been together for 12 years. I really can't argue with that. 

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