30til30: day 2, michael

i have 30 days until i celebrate my 30th year of life. i thought i would share with you 30 people, events and situations that have shaped my life and who i want to be. it has been very challenging to come up with 30…i hope it inspires you as it has me. this part of the list is in a specific order.

day 2: michael

december 27, 2003. it changed my life. it’s the day that i promised to love and respect the man i thought i loved. i had no idea what real love was – and am only now really beginning to understand – but with everything i am, i pledged my life to michael that day.

i’ve never looked back.

yes, there have been some difficult moment over the last five-and-a-half years – we’re both first-born, after all. but the good moments have far surpassed the tough ones. that warm december day, i married my lover and my best friend.

i cannot imagine life without michael. we laugh. we cry. he knows what makes me happy and what grates on my nerves. he challenges me. he encourages me. as a stubborn, first-born child, i needed to marry a man who would be a strong leader. and he is.

he loves me for my quirks, which means i don’t have to try to hide them.

he challenges me to pursue others. we recently had the opportunity to reach out to someone whose personality clashes with mine. he encouraged me and prayed for me until i told him the other day i now enjoy being with this person.

he knows i love decaf tall nonfat vanilla lattes. and occasionally hands me three bucks to buy one.

he leads our family well. he knows what areas of parenting will be tough for me (discipline is currently foremost among them) and he intentionally sets the pace in those areas. as we look to where God would have us move, he is leading our family in the direction he believes is best.

i trust him. how can i not when i know that he will put my needs (and sometimes desires) before his own? but, he is strong enough to not let me have my way when what i want isn’t what’s best.

i love you, babe. thanks for choosing me almost six years ago!

it’s been the best six years of my life.