Superman to the Rescue part 2...{SEEing ME}
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Personal
I kinda left off at a very climactic point yesterday...
It was sort of like that in real life too...it's amazing the perspective put into place when you are forced to face things that you wouldn't imagine for yourself...
and yet, today as we celebrate NINETEEN YEARS of marriage...I want to fully experience the gravity of it for a minute...because to me, it's huge! There is definitely a time for the giddy and the FUN...and I think once I share all this, you'll see why all those happy moments are all the more deeply felt in our home...and I CELEBRATE them like crazy...
but let me continue the "story" first...
Getting off the plane from Australia on July 16th, I was gifted one whole month with Sarah before she went to live with Jesus. She was 13 years old. Anthony was a camp counselor that summer and when his weeks of service were over, he came straight to my home...where he was met with a family completely off kilter...
He mowed the lawn, he kept my baby sister occupied, he drove us all to and from the hospital (my parents stayed all day with Sarah) ... He was there when Sarah called late at night, just after my parents had said goodnight to her and were coming home to get a good rest and shower....she called to tell me that she was scared, because they had just woken her up and told her that they had a heart for her...
Anthony sat next to me on the couch while I kept talking with her...while we waited for my parents to get home from the hour long drive so that we could send them right back to the hospital again.
Ultimately, the transplant didn't work...and Sarah's body was tired.
In my rocky world, Anthony patiently guided and sometimes had to let me fall...but he never left.
My final year of school was tumultuous to say the least...a roller coaster that I wouldn't wish anyone to ride.
Anthony and a handful of grace giving friends journeyed through that last year with me and then I dove into teaching once I graduated. He patiently waited as I pondered through all that "crazy" in my head from my life experiences...we had been best friends from the start and so we continued...until it grew into more...
Finally, and I do mean finally, because what man can really hold on that long?? I realized that I just didn't want to do life without him by my side!
That didn't mean my fear went away or that I wasn't nervous about all things commitment, but I knew that I could CHOOSE HIM...and then make that choice over and over again...everyday...through thick and thin, in good and bad, in funny and tragic, in a lot or a little...
And from that moment, it's been a daily choice that we both purposely make...it's often subconsciously made while he's washing dishes or I'm pulling weeds...when we have a hard parenting task or when the bills come in the mail...
We don't always make those choices "joyfully", but we make them out of love and putting self aside...because we both have born witness to what happens when other options are chosen...
This ultimately means that I'm completely free to be the ME I was made to be...and he "gets" it...I'm loud and crazy and sometimes opinionated...he's calm and methodical...I'm spontaneous and disorganized...he's a walking spreadsheet and the motor that keeps us all running smoothly...I'm fast-forward and hold grudges....he's watchful, thoughtful and gives grace unconditionally...I'm creative and he keeps things grounded...
we fit together...even in our crazy differences...
It was sort of like that in real life too...it's amazing the perspective put into place when you are forced to face things that you wouldn't imagine for yourself...
and yet, today as we celebrate NINETEEN YEARS of marriage...I want to fully experience the gravity of it for a minute...because to me, it's huge! There is definitely a time for the giddy and the FUN...and I think once I share all this, you'll see why all those happy moments are all the more deeply felt in our home...and I CELEBRATE them like crazy...
but let me continue the "story" first...
Getting off the plane from Australia on July 16th, I was gifted one whole month with Sarah before she went to live with Jesus. She was 13 years old. Anthony was a camp counselor that summer and when his weeks of service were over, he came straight to my home...where he was met with a family completely off kilter...
He mowed the lawn, he kept my baby sister occupied, he drove us all to and from the hospital (my parents stayed all day with Sarah) ... He was there when Sarah called late at night, just after my parents had said goodnight to her and were coming home to get a good rest and shower....she called to tell me that she was scared, because they had just woken her up and told her that they had a heart for her...
Anthony sat next to me on the couch while I kept talking with her...while we waited for my parents to get home from the hour long drive so that we could send them right back to the hospital again.
Ultimately, the transplant didn't work...and Sarah's body was tired.
In my rocky world, Anthony patiently guided and sometimes had to let me fall...but he never left.
My final year of school was tumultuous to say the least...a roller coaster that I wouldn't wish anyone to ride.
Anthony and a handful of grace giving friends journeyed through that last year with me and then I dove into teaching once I graduated. He patiently waited as I pondered through all that "crazy" in my head from my life experiences...we had been best friends from the start and so we continued...until it grew into more...
Finally, and I do mean finally, because what man can really hold on that long?? I realized that I just didn't want to do life without him by my side!
That didn't mean my fear went away or that I wasn't nervous about all things commitment, but I knew that I could CHOOSE HIM...and then make that choice over and over again...everyday...through thick and thin, in good and bad, in funny and tragic, in a lot or a little...
And from that moment, it's been a daily choice that we both purposely make...it's often subconsciously made while he's washing dishes or I'm pulling weeds...when we have a hard parenting task or when the bills come in the mail...
We don't always make those choices "joyfully", but we make them out of love and putting self aside...because we both have born witness to what happens when other options are chosen...
This ultimately means that I'm completely free to be the ME I was made to be...and he "gets" it...I'm loud and crazy and sometimes opinionated...he's calm and methodical...I'm spontaneous and disorganized...he's a walking spreadsheet and the motor that keeps us all running smoothly...I'm fast-forward and hold grudges....he's watchful, thoughtful and gives grace unconditionally...I'm creative and he keeps things grounded...
we fit together...even in our crazy differences...
Happy Anniversary my amazing Superman...the rescuer of my heart!
I love you and our journey together...
I love hearing your story. Every single time. Congratulations on 16 years b/c it IS a feat! When others have long since chosen to chuck it, you have made the harder and better choice. You BOTH deserve each other and the 3 precious gifts you shape every day!
<3 KZ