Warning: Sappiness Ahead!!!

I'll cut right to the chase. Today Bruce and I are celebrating our 16th wedding anniversary. As I was thinking back to the things that I love the most about him, I realized that the verse in the Bible that says "He who finds a wife finds a good thing- Prov. 18:22" could just as easily read "She who finds a husband finds a good thing". I certainly have found that. The song above is one of the songs we had sung at our wedding. I am not EVEN a fan of country music (sorry!) but I loved this song 16 years ago...and still today. Below are 10 things I appreciate about Bruce:

1. He loves God more than me.

2. He has amazing integrity.

3. He has an outgoing personality that balances my not-so-outgoing one!

4. He irons his own clothes!

5. He is a great dad.

6. He treats people with respect.

7. He goes the extra mile for friends...and complete strangers.

8. He's a great cook...(he's been waiting years for me to say that!)

9. He likes an adventure.

10. He loves me unconditionally.

At this point in our journey, we are raising kids, working jobs and most of the time just trying to snag a few moments here and there to spend alone. I'm thankful for the comfort I find in our life together. I am thankful we share the same goals and dreams. I am thankful to partner in ministry with him (wherever that leads us.)I am thankful for the security we share in our relationship and the strong committment we have in this marriage. I am thankful that from the beginning we have known this relationship would fail without God, so we have depended on Him. We've had our ups and downs, but they've been our fault...not God's!

To end this post, I'll let you in on a few little known facts about us:

1. We lived in married housing...cinder block style...at BBC for the first year of our marriage.

2. Our first car that we bought together was a sky blue Mercury Topaz. The payment was $202 a month.

3. After being told we couldn't have children and canceling maternity insurance we have ended up having 2 kids.

4. We marathon shop the day after Thanksgiving.

5. We love Tennessee.

6. We once boxed in a boxing ring for a sermon illustration...and I might have accidently hit him.

7. We have learned that you learn something from everyone...somethings you want to do in the future and some you don't.

8. Neither set of our parents have/were divorced.

9. We are huge American Idol fans...episode one to finale...DVR...every week!

10. We are both wearing replacement wedding rings.

Happy Anniversary Bruce! Love you!