14 Years

Kevin and I celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary this week.

I'm 41 years old, and 14 X 3 = 42, which is close to 41, which means that I've been married about 1/3rd of my life.  In some ways, it seems like we've been married longer.  Our lives together have been a joy and a good challenge, in the sense that many astonishing things have happened in the last 14years.  In other ways, it does seem like just yesterday that we walked down the aisle together. Has it really been 14 years?

  So, I am going to indulge in a trip down memory lane. 

  15 years ago, I was 26 years old and finishing up a Ph.D. in engineering.  Kevin was a fellow graduate student.  I was a gung ho "single woman", enthusiastic about embarking on a challenging career and giving my extra time to the Lord's work.

  In November of 1996, Kevin became a Christian. I invited him to my church. He came.  He joined our "Hope Group" where we met weekly for Bible study, prayer, and fellowship. 

  By the end of January, 1997, we were officially courting and were meeting with our pastor and his wife for relationships counseling.

  April 1st, he asked me to marry him and I said yes, on a windswept hill in Ann Arbor, on our lunch hour.

  We were married on June 28th of 1997.  We thereby proved that you can plan a wedding (albeit a simple one) in 3 short months.

   A year later, the Lord spoke to us both about opening our lives to the blessing of children.

  14 years later, we are the parents of 7 children here on earth.

  It's been an amazing ride, sweetheart.  Thanks for 14 wonderful years.