Happy Anniversary!!!

Well my 20th anniversary is a thing of the past. Milestones come and milestones go. Here are my random (seriously not organized thoughts)!!

This morning my husband took me to IHOP for breakfast. It was GREAT!! (For those of you newlyweds out there we are going out nice on Friday night). But it was quite thoughtful of him to roll me out of bed on our 20th anniversary and take me out for breakfast. Thoughtful because it made me feel like we were on vacation. We NEVER eat breakfast out. As we lingered over coffee we had some quiet time (hard to find with four children) and we reminisced about the past twenty years. I won't bore you with all that.

But I will say, we have much to be thankful for after 20 years. We started our marriage with God at the center. We wanted our marriage to bring honor to God. We have had our ups and downs...that's a fact of life. However, we have been able to weather the storms. This week we were reminded how we have been able to weather these storms. Reminded by our 7 year old son.

By the way let me say an aside to all out there. God uses His people to speak truth. You don't have to be a preacher. You don't have to be eloquent. You don't have to speak loudly. You just have to know the truth and speak the truth. And, you have to listen for the truth!!

This week in our home, he used a young boy; a skinny young boy at that, with beautiful blue eyes and and a tender heart for God (I'm sure a I butchered the grammar in that sentence!!). Let me explain.

On Monday night of this past week our family was sitting in our sitting room all together. It was about that time of night when we send the kids to bed. Our son Noah said, "I have an idea!!! I think we should all pray together tonight." Well, his heartfelt statement just made tears pop out in my eyes. It's one thing for the grown-ups to say we should pray, but a little boy...

Then, Tuesday night he was in his room finishing up his school for the day. Our system is that he has 12 numbered folders that are loaded for him every morning. He is responsible for completing the work in these folders. So, David and I are sitting together in our living room. Noah comes to the top of the stairs (we can both see and hear him) and says in a passionate voice, "MOM, I have an idea!!! Tomorrow, could you start putting my Bible in my number one folder."

Now as you read you may be thinking okay, that doesn't seem like a big deal. But, for me and my husband of twenty years it's like God was using a megaphone to scream at us (kindly of course). Our first year of marriage we attended Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Georgia. We had dear Bible Study teachers and Edna Clark was a lady who we still talk about today in our home. It did not matter what Edna was teaching on, her message always came out to be..."You need to pray and read God's Word."

Here was our son communicating the same message that resounded through our first year of marriage. So as we head into our 21st year, we are committing to renew our passion to pray and read God's word. Our marriage is a gift that I am thankful for every day.

If you are married, your marriage is also a gift. For those of you who are unmarried...Wait upon the Lord!! Hold steadfast to him!!!