Monday, August 26th, was our 25th wedding anniversary.
I had unpacked my wedding dress and ironed enough of it for a special picture.
Jonathan was in the middle of cleaning out his truck for our weekend, and I had piles of dishes to day and more piles of receipts to sort.
But Danny and Hannah snapped a few pictures for us.
No manicured lawn, and my dress barely fit, but we had some fun moments in our own back yard.
We are grateful for God's faithfulness to us, His redemption where we've fallen short, and the way He "blessed the broken road that led" us straight to each other.
I had written this poem for Jonathan.
To My Sweetheart of 25 Years
Twenty-five years and seven kids later,
Twenty-five years that could not have been greater.
We met in Ukraine, where we girls were rooming,
Were engaged then in April when tulips were blooming. .
We married in August with harp and with bells,
And how fast years would fly we never could tell.
While serving in missions in distant Ukraine,
You built a log home at the end of a lane.
Crystal and Samuel and Carrie played there
Till we flew then back home on a wing and a prayer.
You were not a preacher, but a builder and so
We joined Mission Helps nineteen years now ago.
Forty-five trips all over creation
Wherever there was a needy mission station.
And in between times you built us a home,
Not just a building of sticks and of stone,
But a home for our children, a home for my heart
Where rainbows could arch and happiness start.
Four children more in our ranch house were given,
While two little unborn went straight to heaven.
Now Crystal’s a college senior, and Sam’s a fireman,
Both Carrie and Rose are graduates, Timmy a young man.
Our little ones are growing up, Danny’s almost thirteen.
And Hannah’s growing up so tall. Where have the years been?
Twenty-five years of struggle, twenty-five of joy.
Twenty-five of perfectly imperfect girls and boys.
Twenty-five years of wind and of weather.
Twenty-five years of us still together.
Twenty-five years where rainbows do roam,
Twenty-five years where hearts found a home.
*******
As part of our celebration, Jonathan had reserved this little off-grid cabin not that far away in the mountains and almost in sight of Pikes Peak.
On our way we made a quick stop at the potluck reunion of People's Bible College alumni at the Woodmoor Barn center.
It was a lovely venue, and there were a number of old acquaintances. Jonathan and I were the youngest couple there, and Jonathan's parents were the oldest.
This venue is by Woodmoor Lake.
We stopped on a road near our house for this picture of wildflowers.
I loved the rustic coziness inside the cabin in the mountains.
"Always kiss me goodnight," the wall plaque said, and he does!
The first night there we grilled corn which the manager's family shared with us, and New Orleans brats.
Another day we heated up leftover rice and stirfry I had brought along in a cooler.
Jonathan always enjoys food cooked over the fire, ending up with a tantalizingly special flavor including smoke!
The best part was spending time watching a set of 5 DVD's from a "Love and Respect" marriage conference. Our friends, Will and Darlene Byler, had given us this set after attending the marriage conference.
Jonathan had bought a DVD player to connect to his laptop, but although he spent hours before we left, trying to get it to work, it would not. I tried to get my own laptop to play a DVD, and it wouldn't either, even though it had played DVD's only a couple weeks earlier.
We were afraid we'd have to give up on our plans to enjoy these enriching DVDs.
However, as we stopped at Walmart, Jonathan decided to check out the DVD players there, and here wasn't there one on clearance at about 20% off. He bought it and it worked perfectly for us without a computer. We were so thankful.
This "Love and Respect" set of DVD's was sooo worth listening to.
We were laughing and crying, convicted and inspired.
One of the emphases the speaker has is that God made male and female so differently, and many misunderstandings and craziness in marriage happens because we don't understand the other's maleness or femaleness.
Such as how women tend to be sentimental, and want to look at wedding albums and old cards and photos of the wedding, the speaker said, while men would rather play golf.
I got a kick out of that, because sure enough, I had brought along our wedding album and two big packs of cards that Jonathan and I have given to each other and that I've saved through the years
so we could read some of them!
And of course, Jonathan would rather hike or drive around the mountains.
The way we worked it out was that he kindly let me enjoy reading him some old cards and poems, but I kindly did not read ALL of them. I never even opened the wedding album.
But that was okay.
But that was okay.
And I suggested we go for a nice drive that he would enjoy, and he built a fire and grilled food, and we also took walks in the sunset twice.
On the way home, we drove by a working gold mine.
Maybe someday we'll have a home school field trip here.
In Cripple Creek, there are still wild burros running free, like they used to in the 1800's when this was a booming mining town.
When we came back home, I was surprised with a beautiful gift that Jonathan had bought and Sam had installed in our kitchen--a new stove!
And the next day, Carrie baked us this orange chocolate cake.
We are so blessed!
Carrie also made us this lovely wooden plaque, along with a silver anniversary wedding gift of a special silver-plated candle holder from a friend.
Did I say we are blessed?
