Hi readers! Today’s post is special because I’m directing it towards only one person. It’s the person who God chose to use in order to sweep me off my feet, and draw me closer to Him. It’s the person that He chose to bring an incredible amounts of overflowing joy into my life - to bring laughter from the depths of my soul that I had no idea existed. This post is written for my sweet husband, Eric, on our 3 year anniversary. *But feel free to read along with him.

To the man who’s length of a relationship with me has FINALLY surpassed the length of my longest relationship - record held by Austin Christian from Kindergarten to third grade- haha (shout-out to Chamberlin Elementary):

Sometimes I forget how blessed I am to be your wife. I’m not trying to be sappy because it’s our anniversary, but I think you should know how I think about you and our relationship. You truly were a gift to me from the Lord. Not just because I got a husband out of the deal… I mean, being married is definitely a gift. But what I really mean is that God laid out specific gifts for me by bringing you into my life. Like here’s one. He saved me from a LOT of unnecessary heartache and guilt. I’ve always wanted to be married (OBVIOUSLY - I had a boyfriend in Kindergarten! Most kindergarten-ers think boys are ICKY). I truly believe that because of a lot of insecurities I had as a teenager and also because I always desired to be married, I dated a lot. Too much, really. I dated some really nice guys and I dated some… well… I just shouldn’t have gone there. When you came into my life, the Lord knew the paths that I was choosing for myself and honestly, he just saved me from a lot of pain. He saved me from unnecessary baggage that I would have had to carry. You were a blessing to me because God wanted to show me what His love was really like through you. I just had never experienced that kind of unconditional love before and you showed it to me. You still show it to me everyday. Wow. Using you, He swept me off my feet.

God also gifted me with this CRAZY joy that I had never experienced before. Although I was always a happy person, through you, He brought true laughter into my soul. Cooks, you are FUN-NY. My life would be SO boring without you. I love the fact that we are SO silly together, we laugh at everything, and sometimes it’s just fun to be immature. Riding carts down the aisles at Wal-mart? Rapping and beat boxing in the car? Giggling when something sounds like a fart? I hope we still act like kids when we’re old. Why does life have to be so serious and boring? I’m so blessed to have been taught that by you. I remember being SOO embarrassed when you acted silly in front of other people. I didn’t want people to think that I was immature because of you. Oh the Lord has taught me so much about what it means to be joyful and what it means to respect my husband for who he is. I’m a lot more silly now because of you and I LOVE it. I love who God is forming me to be through you.

I could go on and on about how many blessings I’ve received JUST because you asked me to be your wife, but I will only share one more. I just want to thank you for being patient with me while God is teaching me to be more like Him. I know that you see how He’s using you in a mighty way through worship at StoneWater, but he’s using you in a mighty way in my life, too. I’m learning every day about unconditional love, about respect, about patience, and really about righteousness. I know that when I screw up, God gives me the encouragement that I need to keep going - a lot of times He does that through you. I love how the Lord has put us on this path together, to run this race together, to seek His face together. I enjoy worshiping the Lord with you more than ANYTHING in this entire world. Worship is my favorite favorite favorite favorite thing to do… I just love to give glory to God… and to do it with you… well, it’s just indescribable.

God is using you in a mighty way in my life, Eric. I hope you see that. He didn’t just put you in my life so that we would live “happily ever after,” but He’s truly blessed me with the PERFECT person to accomplish a mission with. There is no one I’d rather spend my life with than you. No. One. I love you more than chocolate cupcakes. Happy Anniversary.

Pictures by Visions In White Photography