to my man

Dear Daniel,

Today is our anniversary. (Don't worry, I won't let you forget. I reminded you last week, two days ago, last night and first thing this morning. Some may see it as redundant and nagging, but I like to think of it as proper notice.)

I took some pictures of the photos in our wedding album (all of them were taken by the fabulously talented Laura at Lark Photography, whose website is right here.) Don't we look like babies??
It seems like a lifetime ago, maybe because a whole life's worth of change has happened in the past four years. We've changed too.

(For example, that waist line of mine? It's never going to look like that again.)

You know what I've learned along the way babe? Anybody can get married. Heck, the wedding is the easiest part! Marriage is what separates the men from the boys and the fairy tale chasing girls from the covenant keeping women.

I know you're in this for the long haul, because I've witnessed first-hand how you make the choice to stay in, protect and lead our marriage. Even when I haven't been the ideal spouse. (Especially during that one dreadful month when you continually woke up next to the Wicked Witch of the West. Any man would have been begging the Lord to drop a house on himself just to put him out of his misery. Thank goodness it wasn't an alien that had invaded my body, just the embryo of our first born.)

Good things come in hormonal packages.

Look, here I'm putting on your bling. That's the blingiest you'll ever get, huh? Good thing you don't have a penchant for shiny stuff. Because if we end up with that passel of girls your heart's set on having, we'll be too broke for bling of our own. Broke but blessed.

This one's my favorite. Little did you know what you were getting into when you slipped that ring on my finger. Thank goodness you didn't know all we'd face together in the coming years. You might have hightailed it back up the aisle and out the front door.

Then again, any man who's been faithful to Kansas City sports teams for as long as you have shows great fortitude when it comes to disappointment by the ones he loves most. Thank you that when I muster up enough humility to admit my shortcomings, you're quick to forgive. Thank you that the apologies in our marriage aren't one sided.

You lay down your life day in and day out for your girls. I will testify until my dying breath that you're the real deal. There isn't a man on this planet I respect more than you. It blows my mind how faithful God has been to us. We'd be such a mess without Him. And He's the only way even the messiest parts of our marriage could turn out to be something beautiful.

Well, I better wrap this up before you start skimming. :)

I love you. And when you get back from leading all those teenagers, we'll celebrate properly. We have so much to be thankful for.

Proud to be yours,

Mrs. Hinton

"He is before all things and in Him all things hold together."

Colossians 1:17