Seven years together!

I feel like we've been married long enough to be able to say I LOVE being married without being accused of just being a starry-eyed newlywed who is still in the honeymoon phase. I love hearing Nate walk through the door when he comes home from work, and I love seeing him play with the kids. I love spending time with him and I love hearing him laugh. I love making him fabulously unhealthy treats to surprise him. I love all the funny faces he makes. I love how encouraging and kind Nate is to all the people that cross his path. There isn't anyone else I would rather be with than him.

I didn't know the instant I saw Nate that we would get married, but I do remember thinking it would be really nice if we could get married - although I had no idea who he was. A few weeks later, Nate told me before he left for Ukraine that he understood if I would want to date other people while he was so far away. I immediately said, "I'll wait!" Because I couldn't imagine being happy with anybody else - so why bother?

We know that our marriage has taken a serious beating from all the change and upheaval we have been through in the past seven years - but we are so happy together despite every challenge that has come our way. I feel like our last name could be called Patience instead of Weeks. Before we were married, I waited several months for Nate to come back from Ukraine - and in the meantime found out many people thought our relationship wouldn't survive him being in Europe while I was at school in Chicago. We were thrilled to prove them wrong. At the time, being so far apart seemed unbearably difficult but it was just the beginning of the challenges we would face. We didn't really see each other while we were engaged - maybe once a month if we were lucky once I was back at school, and Nate was working full-time at camp. Then we waited for me to finish senior year at North Park and contemplated eloping to South Dakota just for fun (yeah, that didn't happen). While working at camp we waited for God to bring Nate new employment which came right after we found out we were going to have a little one, and we left Lake Beauty Bible Camp, only to wait for Nate to finish grad school, and he took on a full course load while working full-time. And now here we are in Delaware, getting through life one day at a time, and waiting for our new baby to join our family - while waiting for so many other things as well. We have had to move on from places we love and say hard good-byes to people we haven't ever wanted to leave behind. But I can honestly say our relationship has never buckled through any of this. We're tough.

I don't know where we'll be seven years from now, but I do know that as long as we look to God and together seek His will, we will be happy no matter what. Neither of us can imagine being married without Christ being the center of our relationship. His yoke is easy and His burden is light - and this definitely applies to our marriage. God's love for us and our love for each other has made marriage a total delight. What a blessing!

Happy anniversary, baby!