I Certainly Do

Our first anniversary.
We celebrated by biking 65 miles on our tandem bike...
isn't that too cute?  

I knew the very week I met Joshua, that I was going to marry him.  By week two it dawned on me that marrying a pastor would automatically make me a pastor's wife.  That was a bit overwhelming.  By week three I was willing to wear a head covering, give up pork, and anoint lepers... whatever was expected of a pastor's wife, I was willing to do it!


It was arranged by a mutual friend that we would meet each other at a play starring Josh's little sister.  During the performance we tried to steal glances of one another, but all I could see was that he had a sweet smile and crazy eyebrows.  Afterward, at the reception, we talked quite a bit.  And at the end of the night he boldly asked for my cell phone number.  At that time I didn't have a cell phone and I began to panic.  It took me a moment, but once I remembered that land lines still existed, I gave him every phone number I could possibly remember.  

The next day he called my house and said that he was going for a  bike ride.  Would it be okay if he came to visit?  I knew that trekking clear to my house in the sticks would be a challenge, so I told him to meet me at my grandmother's house.  As soon as I hung up the phone I grabbed my car keys and raced out the door to go meet him.  Unfortunately, I had totally forgotten that my car was not at home.  So, I did what any desperate girl does when a boy wants to see her...I ran to him!  
I began a four mile dash to my gram's house that was thankfully interrupted by my mother who was returning home.  She saw me along the road and pulled over.  After I hastily explained the situation, she had that car turned around so fast I think we were up on two wheels for a second!

I was so confident that Josh was the "one", that I bought my wedding dress two months before he even proposed.  And when he did pop the question..he made Prince Charming look like Mr. T.  Oh, my Joshua can be quite the romantic!        
           
Now, you have to know that I am the most indecisive woman on the planet.  But when I met Josh, I knew without a doubt that he was the man God made just for me.  That's why we met and were married within a mere five and a half months.  We were wed during a chilly outdoor ceremony.  At one point it was so windy that he had to step on my dress just so it wouldn't blow over my head!  The guest, seated on hay bales, huddled together in winter coats and mittens.  I must have been warmed by love because a strapless gown and a pair of earrings was enough to keep me from freezing.  It couldn't have been more perfect.  

This Sunday we will celebrate our sixth wedding anniversary, and I can honestly say that my love for this man grows with each new day.  He is such a treasured gift in my life.  And try as I may, I simply do not have the words to describe just how wonderful it is to be loved so deeply by him.  If his love is just a fraction of the passion God has for me, my how I am loved.