10 Years Ago Today

Ten years ago today I was preparing for a first date. I was about to start a new chapter with the man that would turn out to be the one great love of my life. How could I have known when I ran into his familiar handsome face at the street dance and he asked for my number that ten years later I would look at that same handsome face every morning and smile. That ten years later when I saw his name on the caller id I would still rush to answer his call just to hear his voice. I didn’t know that when I agreed to that first date that I was saying yes to ten years of highs and lows, happy tears and sad, great adventures and Sunday nights on the couch.

I found love when I stopped looking for it…it found me. It snuck up on me. Slowly date by date, laugh by laugh I became “twitterpated.” He won me over; won my heart, my affection, my devotion, my love. I didn’t know that saying yes to the hottie in the black leather jacket, driving the vintage Monte Carlo that I was in for so much more than a fun night out and sweet first kiss.

At our church we are in the middle of a series about honoring your marriage. Pastor John said something that really stuck with me a couple of Sundays ago he said something like this: “falling in love is easy, it’s fun, it feels good. But, staying in love is hard. It takes work, you have to decide to work at it.”

He is so right falling in love is so much fun, but staying in love is so much work! It takes daily commitment, compromise, apologies, it takes putting someone else first and considering their feelings always. It means letting go of anger and allowing do overs. It means communicating when you feel like shutting down. But it also means having someone to laugh with, cry with, someone to hold your hand and tell you everything is going to be okay. It’s someone that always has your back and you have theirs. It’s that person that knows what you’re thinking without having to ask, they can read your smile and that twinkle in your eye. They share inside jokes, dreams, fears, aspirations. They bring you the greatest joy and sometimes the deepest hurts. They are your better half. The yin to your yang. The peanut butter to your jelly :)

So what I am getting at here is Rob I chose you. I wake up every morning and do not regret one second of the last 10 years. I wake up every morning more in love with you today then I was yesterday. One look into your baby blue eyes and my heart melts. You flirt with me and I fall in love all over again. When you pull me into your arms after a hard day I snuggle in and lean on your strength.

You are my past, my present, and my future.

I am so glad I said yes, to a first date. To a second. To the ring. To I do. To you. To us.

I love you.