Last week Ted and I ran away to Glenwood Springs, Colorado, where we spent 5 days celebrating our 25 years of marriage! It was quite the team effort to get us out the door...two of our nurses agreed to work 12-hour shifts so that Verity could be cared for 100% of the time, and our respite provider also extended one of her shifts to help as well. Ted's mom stayed at the house to take kids to karate, supervise meals, and provide all-around Grandma fun, so much so that we aren't sure the kids really wanted us to come back, ha!
I've driven through Glenwood Springs a number of times on our travels, but I've never had the chance to stay there. (Ted remembers stopping with his youth group one year.) I've always loved the drive on I-70 through the beautiful Colorado mountains, but being able to stay and soak in the scenery was such a special treat. We enjoyed paragliding, caving, whitewater rafting, hiking, resting, swimming in the hot springs, and eating lots of great food without having to clean anything, lol. And we had the chance to look back over the years and recount God's faithfulness to us in so many ways.
It's been an
amazing,
difficult,
memorable,
stretching,
fun,
growing,
agonizing,
wonderful,
challenging,
unforgettable
journey!
In a world that says we should pursue our own individual happiness, we choose to grow together, to die to selfishness (not always successfully), and to elevate the eternal over the temporal. We choose to prioritize our relationship with Jesus, our marriage, and our family, in that order.
Ted, I'd choose you all over again! ❤️😍🥰 Our paragliding experience was a thrilling adventure, but it pales in comparison to living a full and abundant life with my best friend and lover. I could never have imagined what our life together today would look like when I nervously donned my wedding gown 25 years ago, but I knew you were the one God had picked out for me.
Thank you, Lord, for the gift of marriage! Thank you for my loving and faithful husband, a picture of how Christ loves the church. Thank you for the wonderful father he is to our 9 children, a reflection of your heart toward your creation. Thank you for fun and crazy memories, for adventures and experiences that shape and grow us, and even for the hard times and tears. We are stronger, more patient, quicker to forgive, and more Christ-like today than we were 25 years ago—and that is a testimony of your tender mercies on us as individuals and as a couple. May we be bold and faithful witnesses of your love and truth as you continue to shape and grow us as long as you give us life here on earth! May we seek first your kingdom and your righteousness, loving you and all others you put in our path. In the name of Jesus we pray, AMEN!!
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