So let me start by saying HAPPY 13th ANNIVERSARY my sweet Chuck!
Thirteen years ago I made the second smartest decision of my entire life. . .I married my best friend and the mate that God had picked just for me! What was the first smartest decision you ask? . ? . Well, accepting Jesus as my Lord and Savior of course!!!!
We have been through A LOT together and we still have a gazillion wonderful and blessed years ahead of us! I have enjoyed the first 13 years, I can only imagine what the next 13 will bring!!!!
It is always hard to pick out an anniversary gift for Chuck and vice versa because we just had Christmas. Well, let me tell you, he BLEW my socks off this year with the gift he gave to me. To preface this poem that he wrote to me as THE BEST GIFT EVER. . .we met in South Carolina while I was doing my college internship and he was in the Marines. He jumped out of the back of a moving Jeep to come and meet me because he saw me on the sidewalk in Charleston. After we got married, we moved to San Francisco and then Seattle and then back to Michigan when his 4 years were up. A couple of years ago, while looking through some old pictures, I found a picture of us laying next to each other on the beach. The catch was that we had not met yet. The picture was taken 2 weeks before he jumped out of the back of the Jeep. My friend had snapped a photo of me on the beach the first day that I arrived in Charleston so that I could send it home to my Mom! Chuck says he was probably checking me out then!!!!! God is soooooo good! Here is the poem:
A picture on the beach, a jump from the back of a Jeep
So starts the story that amazes most, but Gods work is what I see
A summer of talking, eating out, days at the beach, and a first kiss
The first I LOVE YOU written in the sand, days of my past I really miss
Good bye and uneasy feelings of the future, but God knew what would be best
A few months later I stood buying the ring, if I didn’t marry her my heart would not rest
Along time apart on either ends of the country had its toll
Plans of a wedding began to roll
A flight home, a wedding, and a ryder truck
It is a good thing that we had more to rely on than just luck
Life in the city was a ton of fun and full of places for us to see
But having a wife to go home to was the best part for me
Then the worst day of my life, the walk to the ship seem to last forever
The promise I made that day was that leaving again I would do NEVER
Although that six months was long and hard, I pause……
And think that the reason we made it is clear, God was the cause
A couple more moves and my time was up… but where do we go
We sat on the bed and flipped a coin in the air, we watched to see what it would show
To Michigan we drove, another cross country trip
Closer to her family, I think it made her feel safer a bit
But the sense of our own family was starting to grow
Not along time later she was starting to show
The first Jared, then Connor, and Nolan last
Three boys and the oldest now 9, man the time goes by fast
We have made it, we beat the odds Amy
13 years and counting, a little girl in our future… maybe
I am so glad that God moved to bring us together
Though it might sound cheesy, I know he will keep us one forever
I pray I can make you feel loved every day
So starts the story that amazes most, but Gods work is what I see
A summer of talking, eating out, days at the beach, and a first kiss
The first I LOVE YOU written in the sand, days of my past I really miss
Good bye and uneasy feelings of the future, but God knew what would be best
A few months later I stood buying the ring, if I didn’t marry her my heart would not rest
Along time apart on either ends of the country had its toll
Plans of a wedding began to roll
A flight home, a wedding, and a ryder truck
It is a good thing that we had more to rely on than just luck
Life in the city was a ton of fun and full of places for us to see
But having a wife to go home to was the best part for me
Then the worst day of my life, the walk to the ship seem to last forever
The promise I made that day was that leaving again I would do NEVER
Although that six months was long and hard, I pause……
And think that the reason we made it is clear, God was the cause
A couple more moves and my time was up… but where do we go
We sat on the bed and flipped a coin in the air, we watched to see what it would show
To Michigan we drove, another cross country trip
Closer to her family, I think it made her feel safer a bit
But the sense of our own family was starting to grow
Not along time later she was starting to show
The first Jared, then Connor, and Nolan last
Three boys and the oldest now 9, man the time goes by fast
We have made it, we beat the odds Amy
13 years and counting, a little girl in our future… maybe
I am so glad that God moved to bring us together
Though it might sound cheesy, I know he will keep us one forever
I pray I can make you feel loved every day
Just like God did for me, may you be blessed in every way!!!!
I cried my head off when I read it. It really shows me just how much I mean to him. I love you so much baby!
WOW, what an awesome poem and a horrible story. Feel blessed for your husband's love and good luck with your dog. I know how attached you can become and how they are just like a part of the family.
ReplyDeletewhat a great husband you have! that poem was so sweet.
ReplyDeleteabout your dog, i have a friend that her dog would do that too. and it was seizures. i hope that helps you out.