Yesterday marked 15 years of commitment between the hubby and I. And this is where we decided to set it straight for the record. I was 18 and he was 19 years old . He took me to the Newport Beach Pier and we strolled in for burgers and shakes (starting to sound like a country song). In the midst of his messy chili burger, he broke the silence by saying, "Soooo....I think I'm okay with the whole boyfriend/girlfriend thing. How about you?" Wow....how 15 years have flown by. I wonder if we were a good laugh for the Lord and His crew every now and then....
I knew that Jay was for me. Call it a vibe. Instinct. Whatever. But I knew in our short interactions that we would grow old together. Somehow I knew. But I couldn't see how it would all line up. Goes to show how even if the Lord showed us the future, we would still be uncertain because we wouldn't know the "way" to get "there." I knew the answers were in His hands. So I sought the Lord for months leading up to our dinner on the pier.
God is funny. I sought Him about one thing. And he gave me visions about things that were so random to me. I became Jay's secret prayer warrior, praying for things that the Lord would show him in the years to come. Things like, worship leading (oh I love my husband but he couldn't sing row, row, row your boat for the life of him in those days), playing guitar, missions, leading youth kids/adults....the list grew every time I came to the Lord about him. Not wanting to creep him out, I didn't tell him what the Lord was showing me in my prayers.
Like with all good things....life gets complicated. And at age 18, things got complicated. But that's another story for another rainy day. But I will say that my faith was stretched. I learned about my Lord. And I learned what it meant to offer my life and all control to Him. It doesn't mean I'm a pro at it now. It just means I discovered how it was necessary to stay......sane.
I waited in patience for the Lord to do His thing or actually...THINGS. And after much heartache and prayers, we came to the "end of the pier".......jumped. (hahaha....good metaphor, huh?)
Fast forward 15 years....and here we are. We decided to go back to the same pier on the same date as 15 years ago and show Nathan where "we" started. I think he was intrigued. We even showed him the very spot where daddy proposed to mommy!
We sat at the same table overlooking the same ocean and the same sunset. We ordered our burgers. I ordered my cherry vanilla coke as usual and I made the same face as he ordered his malt shake. I was never a fan of malts. Ick. Some things don't change. And as we ate, we marveled at how far we've come. God has been so good to us. Our 15 years had its ups and downs. But here we were....still in one piece...by His grace.
After dinner, we took the auto ferry across the waters to Balboa Island. We HAD to do that just for fun. Plus, it was fun to watch Nathan enjoy our little ride over. Blurry pictures but...it's kinda neat at the same time.
It was a beautiful night. A little chilly like it was 15 years ago but I loved how we've become a family. 15 years ago, we walked back after our dinner in near silence. We walked apart a little....like we didn't know what we got ourselves into. But after last night, as we walked back, I smiled. Did we know that 15 years later, we'd be back as a family of 3? We had Nathan in between us and we rammed our bodies together to keep warm from the ocean breeze. I love how comfortable we have become as a family of three. Here's to another 15 years, love!
