Our Special Day in May

For some reason I’ve always been excited by the idea of our 20th wedding anniversary, and oddly not because I was hoping for a fantastic trip or a fabulous gift, but because being married for 20 years just sounded amazing.

I told Paul I feel officially like a mature adult.

It wouldn’t have mattered to me where we went or what we did, because nothing could take away from the joy I felt just being married to Paul for two decades. Gratitude welled inside for all the people who have prayed for us over the years and helped us weather the storms .. and absolute thankfulness to Jesus for walking us through every fire and flood and hardship, and filling us with the ability to love, forgive, have peace and joy when we were incapable of manufacturing it ourselves.

As we strolled on wooden bridges over marsh lands, keeping one eye open for alligators, we enjoyed fun conversations as well as companionable silence, and believe me we were grateful we did NOT see any alligators.

Our second stop.. a fancy dinner at a restaurant overlooking the river. It was such a treat! We shared memories as we ate scallops, salmon, and grouper that had been prepared with fancy sauces, seasonings and sides. Paul had a few glasses of Coke with his grouper, and I sort of enjoyed unsweet tea with mine. Per Paul unsweet tea has absolutely no taste whatsoever, it actually tastes JUST like water, which struck me as funny because with each sip I was definitely tasting tea, not water.

Our next stop was Bold Bean coffee (Aubrey) and Mayday ice cream (Paul) and then to the beach for a walk. We were surprised the tide was so high, the wind so fierce, and that beautiful seashells littered the sand. As we walked together wind whipped around us and cold waves foamed over our feet. We were so happy it was not serene and sunny with people, colorful umbrellas, beach towels and toys crowding the shores, but instead dark and cool with mostly empty shores, and only a few people marching forward against the wind in long sleeves with tied back hair.

After 20 years of marriage, you might think I am about to give advice to other married couples now, but I’m not. Honestly, if you love Jesus, have a prayer life, are willing to see that happiness is more deeply realized in the keeping of covenant rather than in the breaking of it, and have friends and family around you that you can reach out to when times get tough then you’ve already got what you need.

I think at this point I have less advice than when I was newly married and reading all the marriage books (which, by the way, can potentially add more stress to a marriage.. in my humble opinion.. “well, the book said to talk to me THIS way”.. “the book says we should be doing that this way instead of this that way”.. “didn’t you read what the book said about such-and-such that never bothered anyone in the universe until now!”.. that sort of stress…).

DISCLAIMER: I have not read all the marriage books out there, and I probably have gained something good from one or two that I have read, so don’t think I’m saying never to read a marriage book. But if a marriage book causes more strife, maybe just don’t read it.

If you want to read a marriage book, however, the Bible is for real THE BEST BOOK FOR MARRIAGE. Ever.

But that isn’t advice, it’s just true. You should really read it until you fall in love with it, and every page drips with the revelation of Jesus and who you are in Him.

Now that’s good for a marriage.

Here are some pics of our special day. Praying for you that the Lord touches you and blesses (or heals, restores, strengthens) your marriage in new and amazing ways!