Married for 10 years!

This Tuesday, April 12th, Rocky and I will have been married for 10 years. It is hard to believe. On the one hand, it seems as though we have always been together, which is good; and on the other hand in comparison to others our age who are celebrating their 25th anniversaries, it is just a short time.

I remember the first time we met - it was a blind date! Rocky was attending a Full Gospel church plant in Dallas and Glen Switzer was the pastor. I worked with Glen's wife, Carol, at the Christian School. The two of them were relentless and wouldn't give up until Rocky and I agreed to meet. We went out for coffee at Zack's and basically agreed that neither of us was ready to talk about a relationship - we were only having coffee to get Glen and Carol off our backs - and we spent the evening talking about missions. We said our goodbyes and I never thought I'd hear from him again.

Two years later, just before he turned 40, he called and asked me out, again. Yes, we had a very slow beginning! But, from that second date on, things moved quickly. Six months later he proposed and 10 months later we were married.

Our relationship has had its share of challenges - blended families are difficult - but the Lord has always kept us focussed on Him and on working together. He is so good! In the midst of the challenges, the Lord brought a more complete healing into both of our lives and into the lives of our kids. We became more aware of how much God loves us and desires for us to be fulfilled. Neither of us ever dreamed we would be given another chance at marriage or happiness, but the Lord knew and He used a blind date 13 years ago to plant a seed in our hearts.

Today we are living out what we talked about on that first date so long ago - the life of a missionary on the field. Together, the Lord has allowed us to be used to further His Kingdom work and we are truly humbled by the honour.

Tuesday night we will celebrate 10 years of marraige in Guatemala City with Arryn, Marshal and Hope (just missing Alex). What a blessing!

We pray the Lord will bless your marriage and relationships within your families!