My dearest Joey,
I know you will agree with me that our God is a mighty God! Just look at the work that His hands have done in our marriage; it’s enough to leave me breathless. Wow!! My love, the past eight years have been quite the journey for us. Something that started out so carefree and so far from God has now come full circle and He is planted firmly in our hearts and in our marriage.
As I look back and trace the steps we had to take along this road – a lightning quick marriage, deployment to Iraq, that dreaded phone call, hospitals and rehabilitation, therapy, pregnancies, miscarriages, babies born, betrayal, addiction, anger, resentment, separations, a marriage on the brink of collapse and then… ceaseless prayer, a life given to Christ, patience, curiosity and questions, opportunity for healing, forgiveness, grace, mercy, love, pregnancy, a baby born, another life given to Christ, redemption, growth, a marriage saved, commitments honored, discovery, laughter, living for Christ – I am praising God again for all He has done for us and for our children.
Joey, I love you and I love the Godly man that you have grown to be and the man God is shaping you to be. I see a man with a servant’s heart and a fire for Jesus that just keeps growing. You are a constant source of amazement and I am honored to be your wife. Thank you for this journey that we are taking together. Thank you for the mountains and most of all, thank you for the valleys because without those valleys I don’t think I would have met Jesus or asked Him to come into my heart. I needed those valleys more than I could have ever imagined, they saved my life. The valleys gave me opportunities that the enemy never intended for me to realize but the endless love and God’s pursuit of my heart could not be stopped. I’m overwhelmed with emotion to think about that incredible love that was waiting for me and the incredible marriage that was to come for us. It is only just beginning, my love!!
Lauren
