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Our story is my favorite. It's filled with an abundance of apologizes and yet cascaded with love. Heartbreaks and still positioned for grace. Dreams and always including one another. A kind of adoration that only grows stronger each year. One that cannot be broken. A gift from dating as High School sweethearts, to becoming engaged, and what we get to call our marriage today.
Let's be real, we'll never be a perfect couple or perfect people with the perfect relationship. It can look cute or inspiring on the outside, but as you peek in, you'll find that this is clearly just not possible. It never will be. We know that and so do you. Every corner of our marriage still cries for hard work as it should and our past is full of cracks that leaked out heartfelt tears over and over again as we were challenged to keep walking hand in hand through some of the biggest relational hardships we'd unexpectidely ever face. That's what happens when two broken people come together. The flaws of the process. They're never pretty, but most certainly appreciated when we see the harvest on the other side. A not so easy road, but together. Now that's my favorite place to be.
"What God has joined, let no one separate (Matthew 19:6)
It was June 29th, 2010 at 3:13am. The text came through as my girl friends and I headed off for a terribly late or should we say morning adventure. We were teenagers then. It was before the tiredness of life poured in and adulting became our present reality. Twenty six miles stood between us as we continued our existence at different schools with unlikely friends, separate families, and contrasting paths that would all eventually lead us to oneness.
"Will you be my girlfriend?" the words lit up my flip phone and my heart fluttered. I can still recall the very place that my feet hit the ground when he sent that to me. "Aww yes" I most likely replied back. I was giddy, girly, and totally gung ho for you. And the rest is history, am I right? Well, I'd say no. Surely this story of ours is still being written and there's so much to reveal and learn from what we call our past.
I met Brandon in early 2010. Our paths crossing at a mutual friends local band concert in the center of St.Albans, Vermont. What was a desperate plead to my parents to drive me to this concert turned into so much more than any one of us could have ever imagined. Only a destiny orchestrated by God for our lives to intertwine because if I'm honest, getting to this concert was a real bargain with the ones who cared for me. Mom and dad came through and still shine as the MVP's in playing a major role at the center of our meeting.
"I like your shoes" were the first four words we exchanged. "Thanks", I smiled. I knew he was cute, but every part of my 5 feet and 10 inch self told me he was too short. Well, that didn't last. Through out the rest of the evening we shared laughs, swapped smiles, and traded contact information as the sun fell over the horizon. What I'm about to say will leave you thinking that we sound extremely old, but I can assure you that's not totally the case here. I mean it could be depending on the time that this is being read. Brandon requested my number and he gave me his email. Yes, you read that correct. Email. An electronic message that would keep us corresponding as we continued to grow our friendship. A sixteen year old without a cellphone is counter cultural today, but we're also re-living an entire decade ago so we are surely convinced that things have changed a lot. As odd as it is, I've actually grown to cherish this part of our narrative and think it's kind of cute being playfully unique.
Through facebook messages, myspace comments, and little emails, we stayed in touch over the next couple of months. We got together with mutual friends on a few occasions that my parents were kind enough to drive me to his hometown or those rare occurrences when he would visit mine. We mindlessly would flirt, send hearts back and forth, kiss a lot (yup), and really there was just no hiding our crushes for one another.
It's neat to look back on these sweet memories and ponder on what brought us together. Two hipster teens who had a hardcore love for music, tight skinny jeans, band t-shirts, and bakery story games. It led us here, to our little family, button ups for him, dresses for me, and of course tight jeans still making their debut. Falling in love with you more everyday. A love that was never just found, but built, day in and day out.
Some of my favorite memories during my lifetime were created with you. 3,650 days of recollections to peer into during my 9,865 days of existence. It's beautiful that it's you I get to have, to hold, and to have this incredible gift to have called you a friend first, a boyfriend next, then a fiancé, and now a husband all in this decade of "us".
To then and now, forever.
Happy 10 years of together <3
And to the women and men who are single, who’ve been hurt in a relationship, divorced, widowed, or any another other circumstance, please don’t let go of hope. Stand confident and rest in the assurance that God will guide every step of your path. I may not understand, but I empathize with every emotion that you hold in your heart. They’re real and deserve to be understood. Every journey is different and I believe that God is working in this very moment to lead each step of yours. All of our stories are still being penned.
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