Pottery, Willow, or Leather? Huh?

Three thousand, two hundred, and eighty-seven days.

That's how long DaHubby and I have been married today. In some ways, it's seems like yesterday. And, in others, my single life seems like EONS ago. LOL

But, as I considered what to write in praise of my wonderful partner-in-crime this week, my attention fell more than once this week to a little wall plaque in my kitchen. This wooden heart hung on the wall in my apartment when we were engaged and in each house we've lived in since we were married.

While we were a-courtin', DaHubby made this heart for me to remember the promises he would make at our wedding and would keep in the years ahead. Some of what he wrote...

"Beth, I promise you the following things...

My love for you will never be compromised by anything in or of this world...

My love for you makes me smile all day long, even when the storm threatens to sink my ship. I can always count on knowing that there is someone out there who feels the same way that I do.

My love for you will always give you my honesty, wit, heart, mind, and soul to make you happy and whole.

My love will always support you in any of your dreams and goals.

My love for you will always make you number ONE in my life.

You see, honey, I will be honored to give you my hand, heart, and soul in marriage; to always put you up on a pedestal where you belong. I love you and I always will..."

*happy sigh* What girl wouldn't sign up for a marriage like that? LOL

And, he has kept these promises through thick and thin...

Through infertility, surgeries, procedures, miscarriages, and heartbreaks...
Through every time I questioned myself, he stood beside me...
Through multiple pregnancies, he's kept me calm and walked beside my overanxious self .
Through deaths in both our families that have shook us hard, we've walked hand-in-hand .
Through blockages I've put up before me, he's challenged me, coaxed me, and occasionally pushed me. LOL
We've fought hard to get on the same page with our finances.
We battled next to each other through the last 2 1/2 years of life upheaval while he completed his schooling to grab for us a more secure future.

When I look back at what God's brought us through the last nine years, I stand in awe. Without Him, we never would have made it. Ours is truly a marriage of three: DaHubby, God, and me.

Happy 9th anniversary, my love. You are the answer to all my little girl hopes, my teenager dreams, my single girl imaginations! I love you.