Ten years....

I took this picture today wanting a picture that showcased my wedding rings. My husband and I will have been married for ten years in just a little over a week. This time of year {being around Valentine's Day as well as the time of year I married} always gets me to thinking about love. It just makes me happy to walk into places all decorated with hearts and cutsie love sayings....I love that we celebrate love once a year. It just seems fitting for our anniversary to be in this month as well.

I have been looking back, reflecting on who I was, and what my goals and dreams were ten years ago. I always wanted to be married....I truly believed in love at first sight, and happily ever after. I wanted to experience that for myself. I wanted that feeling of belonging to someone, to know that the rest of the world may be doing their own thing, but I had one person who truly cared and would take time to listen to my thoughts and dreams and fears. I believed in the forever kind of love....love that lasts through the thick and thin, and "endures forever". I wanted to bring children into the marriage, I wanted to show them what true love was, and to raise them in that environment. I wanted babies that looked like their daddy, babies with their daddy's beautiful happy smile and with their daddy's heart. I wanted to teach them about Jesus, to show them His forgiveness and to help them to find His plan for their lives. I wanted our marriage to be a reflection of Christ's love for his church.....

These were the things I believed in and wanted, without having experienced it for myself. Ten years ago I had the hope that these things would come to be. My life isn't perfect, and neither am I, but I have been truly blessed with two beautiful children that, as I had hoped, have their daddy's smile, and heart. :) I am so proud of them, so thankful that I have been blessed with the priviledge of raising them to be men of God. I am still in love with my husband, my heart still speeds up when he comes home at night, and is still entertwined with his. And yes, through the thick and the thin, our love has lasted. So thankful for that. So thankful to be his wife. So thankful for today, and the legacy of our yesterdays, and the hope for our tomorrows.