I will never forget Valentine's Day 2006.
It was my first Valentine's date with my future husband. The last man that would ever get to call me his "Valentine." And the first man that I ever really wanted to. :)
Josh and I were in college and had only been dating for a couple months, things were still "fresh" and "new." We went out to dinner together and then to see a movie.
I wrote him a poem. With pictures included. Ok, basically, I made him a scrapbook.
He gave me... well, actually, this is where my memory fails me. I have absolutely NO idea what he gave me for our first Valentine's Day! I'm 99% sure it was candy of some kind. Chocolate, probably. But beyond that - no clue. (Sorry my love! Just proof that you mean more to me than any gift!)
But I do remember that I was in love. Before I ever said the words and before I let myself admit it, I really was.
I will also never forget Valentine's Day 2008.
It was the day Josh asked me to be his wife and I gave the easiest "yes!" I could have ever said.
Prayer and patience make you certain of some things and saying "yes" to marrying my husband was one of those.
I love that as soon as Josh picked me up for our date that Valentine's Day, he took me straight to the beach to propose! He didn't wait until after dinner, or sunset or when the "moon" or "mood" was just right. He proposed around 5pm and we enjoyed the rest of the evening basking in the anticipation of our future together.
There are some things not worth putting off, and we were married only four months later.
Tomorrow is Valentine's Day 2016.
And in honor of this special day and ONE DECADE spent with the man I love, I thought I would jot down just a few things that I don't want to forget about my husband.
This may sound obvious, but I never want to forget just how much love I have for him. A love that transcends feelings, although the feelings are strong and bring me to tears. A love that speaks 10 years of memories, good and bad, exciting and painful - memories that we can't remember and the ones that we will never forget.
I want to remember the way my hand fits perfectly in his (and has from day one). And weirdly enough, this has always made me feel safe and at home with him.
I want to remember how he still makes me laugh at the same old jokes. And how I'm mostly laughing because he never stops telling them.
I want to remember how beautiful it is to look at our children and see both of us in them. How gracious God has been to entrust us with two incredible lives to nurture and raise. How we almost thought we may never experience biological children, and how okay we would have been with that. But God.
And most importantly, I never want to forget how God's grace is woven into every aspect of our marriage. We are two imperfect people who have surrendered ourselves to the need of a perfect Savior. I could never imagine marriage without Jesus, just as I could never imagine a life without Josh. And until death do us part, I'm so glad I don't have to.
