Happy Anniversary, Mr. C. Eight years and counting.

On July 17, 2004, I married my best friend at Germantown Baptist Church, at one in the afternoon. Could it really be that was eight years ago? Eight? Where has the time gone? It's hard to imagine my life without him, though there was a time I thought I'd never meet my "future husband." I prayed for this man for years, wrote him letters (that I gave him as part of his wedding gift), and agonized over Who my special someone would be. How would we meet? When? Where?

I never expected how God would weave our lives together, but isn't that how life usually is? In early 2003, I had begun looking for a new church. Many of my friends were attending Highpoint and at the time, I actually went to three churches! I never meant to set foot in the third church, but I agreed to go to a singles function at Bellevue with Summer. The funniest part? My mom told me for two years prior I'd meet my husband at BBC.
I was in the midst of my second year of teaching at an inner city school when I met C. He was a graphic designer for a small, family owned firm not far from where we bought our first house. The first night I walked in the door with Summer, I was introduced to my Mr. C. We both never imagined that would be the night we met our spouse.

Dating C was not at all what I expected. It was slow (at first) then super fast once it started. It seemed like he would never ask me out, and I remember calling my friends and whining about it. Little did I know, C was praying for God's guidance about dating me. He didn't want to date just to date. He prayed that if I was the one, God would reveal it, and only then would he ask me out.

In July of 2003, we had our first date at Bennigan's restaurant. It was probably the shortest date in history, started around nine in the evening and ended around eleven. He came straight from church (the singles Bible study was on Thursday nights), and I had been at a PTA meeting. Three weeks later, C took me to meet his parents. In the car he said, "I've never taken a girl home to meet my parents." Shocked, I said, "Why?" He smiled, "No girl ever warranted meeting my parents."

Five months later, he'd surprised me with a proposal in Nashville, Tennessee. We were up there visiting friends for New Year's Eve. They "suddenly" couldn't make it to dinner because of a "flat tire." Here we sat in a fancy restaurant, and I didn't even put two and two together.

Around midnight, C proposed saying, "I can't start another year off without you as my wife." We set the date for December 18, 2004. As you can see, we moved it up quite a bit. =)

I love my C, and I'm so thankful that the Lord answered my prayers. I'm blessed to have such a wonderful, Godly man as my husband. Things have not always been easy in this married life. For example, today we're fighting with insurance companies over a wreck that I was in on Saturday. How is that for romantic?

At any rate, I love him deeply, and I know he loves me very much, too. It's amazing to see how we have changed over the years. It's amazing to see how God has changed our family over the years. I used to be afraid of having children, and now we have the most wonderful blessing in our son. I'm thankful to the many blessings the Lord has bestowed up on us in our life. I don't feel deserving for all these things He has blessed us with, and for that, I am also thankful.

Happy Anniversary, Mr. C! Here's to many, many, many more years together, Lord willing. =)