seven years ago...

on a perfect May night, Nathan and I got married. There was ceremony, a very young bride, a very young groom, an outdoor reception, a cake that cracked, a string quartet, faces of those I loved and a few faces I'd never seen, a thrown bouquet caught by my best friend, and an old fashioned Model A Ford to drive us away. It was a beautiful wedding, but more importantly, it was the beginning of a beautiful marriage.

My grandfather used to say this,

You are free to choose. You are not free not to choose. And you are not free to choose the consequences of your choices.

It applies to marriage just like everything else.  You can choose the kind of person you want to marry, and after that, you live it.  I chose to marry someone like Nathan Christopher Luce, knowing that he was a man I could trust with my life, trust to lead me in my faith, and trust to lead our family.  I knew he was that kind of man, but I couldn't have guessed how much God would bless me because of him.

Seven years ago when we said our vows, I knew Nathan was the man I could live the life of my dreams with, but more importantly, I knew he was the man I could live real life with as well. And it's a good thing because real life is where we spend most of our time. 

When I think back over all seven of those years, I am floored with gratitude.  I know that at twenty years old I could have made some horrible choices, choices that I could still be reaping the consequences for today.  But somehow God blessed me. I asked Him to bring a man into my life that would honor Him, and He did.  I will never stop being grateful for that, no matter how many anniversaries follow.  And I hope there are a lot. Personally, I'm aiming for at least 65.  I hope Nathan's good with that, because I'm gonna need his help getting there!