It's Been a Crazy 11 Years......

This is one of my favorite recent pictures of "US." The grown up "US."

Tomorrow is our anniversary. Hooray for us! I can't believe it....I think back over the last 11 years and think, where did the time go? It is a big blur of crazy that is where it has gone. OK, ask my husband, sometimes the "Blur of Crazy" have been my hormones.  Where did the time go, how did I get here? And then it hit me..... I heard the Lord say, "Abby, your right where you wanted to be." Well, your right God, I am. And then I had to remind Him that I'm still minus the million dollars, a fur coat and my Mercedes........No, not really. God has placed me right where I want to be.

This is what I wanted, this is what I pictured when I stood in front of that church, looking at that crowd, telling this young goofy kid, "I DO." I wanted a life, a family, a home.......happiness with him. Young you say, yes we were young, mere babies in life really. At 18 and 19 respectively, we knew everything about love and happiness. I mean all you need at 18 and 19 is:

a.) someone to cuddle with and 

 b.) a really cool car.

 Flash forward 11 years and I do mean FLASH.....Now....ahem...in my 30's,  I am driving a Suburban (Lord help me) with three kids in the car, 2 of whom are screaming at each other, and an infant crying because of the screaming.....Presto Chango! You are now in a morning commute to school with me. This may sound crazy to you but secretly, I love it.....I love the crazy! Kids, dinner planning, grocery shopping, bottom wiping, laundry folding or the neglect thereof, youth ministry, young adult ministry and so on.  You know why I love it.......

  Because of this guy......this guy, who has been constant and the same since the day we said those two little words, "I DO." Because I share the "CRAZY" with him. He and I have chosen to share our crazy life together and we love it and are blessed to be a part of it. Because even in the "CRAZY" he and I are the same. He is still the same 18 year old goofy kid that can make me laugh or do something that is out of my comfort zone, and I'm still the rational one bringing sense back into the equation. Yes, he is always the same, albeit a lot more mature. Thank you for that, Babe! There is a comfort in knowing that my life can and will be crazy but he and I will always be the same. 

This guy and I have weathered some pretty nasty storms. I'm not lying when I say, marriage is hard, and not for the weak or wishy-washy. Add in two passionate, stubborn, first born adults and you get something that resembles a hurricane.  Most often times it takes an act of God to calm whatever storm were in, but for every storm we weather together through Christ, we are better. Like a captain of a boat that has weathered many storms, you get better at navigating the boat each time your in one. And I bet there is not one captain out there who would deny the power of God the Creator in a raging storm......mid-swell, in the rain and thrashing. Wow, we are getting better, never to be perfect, but able to run to our God in a time of a storm. In need of direction, shelter, calmness in this crazy storm called life. Christ is the only reason we have succeeded 11 years into our marriage. Christ will be the only reason we succeed at all. 

 I'm blessed that God has placed Peter in my life, to weather all of life's crazy storms. I'm blessed to be right where I wanted to be eleven years ago. I am blessed that I excepted the challenge to tell him "We are Crazy young and we will lead a crazy life but still,

"I DO."

 I love you, and I'm still CRAZY about you, Peter. Happy Anniversary!