24 Years and Counting!

Today, July 19, 2021, Steven and I are celebrating 24 years of marriage!

I am so grateful for this man.

He was an amazing answer to the heartfelt prayer of a girl who had given up on her ability to choose the man for her.

While going through my second divorce, I meant it when I knelt down in my room at my parents’ house and asked God to do the choosing for me.

Honestly, I didn’t even know that He should have been my Matchmaker from the get-go.

I got married the first time right before my senior year in high school in a white stucco church in a town that barely had enough people for a post office.

Even though I had accepted Christ when I was almost ten years old, my thought life was in the same condition as someone who did not belong to Him.

I had no idea who I already was in Christ or how living that new life would look different in this world.

And because of my lack of knowledge, I tried to get my worth and value from how I looked and my accomplishments.

Maybe you can relate.

Things were different back then than they are now.

A lot different.

In my sporadic church attendance, I don’t remember ever hearing one message about who I was in Christ.

I tried to find fulfillment as a wife and mother—then as a schoolteacher.

But no matter what I did or how much I achieved, nothing worked.

Then I started believing the lie that I was unhappy because I got married too young and to the wrong guy.

I left my husband of ten years in search of that “Perfect Man out there” who held the key to my happiness.

I remarried two years later and—I kid you not—the very next morning, I knew it was a mistake.

The next three months were a nightmare.

I was plunged into a depression so severe that I could hardly eat or sleep, and when I did go to sleep, I didn’t want to get up.

I wanted my life to end.

That’s when a friend of mine invited me to a Bible study.

And it was through that study that Jesus revealed His special love for me.

That, along with a short-term use of an antidepressant, was enough to pull me out of that dark hole.

Sadly, my second marriage lasted two years.

But God.

God knew exactly who I needed.

I think He had a mile-wide grin on His face when I finally looked to Him to do the choosing for me!

Next to Jesus, Steven truly has been the wind beneath my wings.

For the last fifteen years, his job has been our sole source of income so that I can live my dream of sharing the good news of the gospel of grace through my books, blog, and social media.

So, here’s to Steven: I love you with all of my heart, and I’m looking forward to celebrating 25!