Monday, July 30, 2012

Our "Love Story"... counting my blessings

For months now I've kept a journal of gifts...blessings. In honor of our anniversary, I thought I'd take a moment to highlight a few that I'm most thankful for when I think of our love story and the years that Sam and I've shared.

"Thereto I plight thee my troth"... 35 years ago Sam and I repeated this vow from The Book of Common Prayer to each other... such an old fashioned way of saying I promise to love you forever and always. For those of you who know our story, I think you'll agree that it's quite a miracle of sorts that we're celebrating today. After all, I didn't even know how to spell Sam's last name when I answered his marriage proposal with , "Yes." We'd only been dating for a month. Hoskin without an "s"... details. Praises for the blessing of knowing without a doubt what was far more important and that was that Sam loved God and wanted His love to be the foundation for our love.

"Love means never having to say you're sorry." ... a line from Love Story, an iconic movie of our generation. Just one line...another detail... but one that was sure to bring heartache if we'd believed it. Praises for the blessing of marrying a man who knew how untrue those words were. Love is all about saying, "I'm sorry"... they're the most healing words in any relationship. Over the years, we've both asked for forgiveness far more times than we can count... praises for God's gift of grace.

"Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay." Ruth 1:16 This was the verse embossed on the front of our wedding invitation. Praises for the blessing of literally traveling around the world with my best friend. What wonderful adventures we've shared! Praises also for the valleys of heartbreak and disappointment. To be honest, I wish we could have skipped the valley tours. But then again, if I'm really really honest, it's in the valleys that Sam and I have learned what "plighting our troth" truly means.

Even a short list of blessings wouldn't be complete if I didn't count you, our friends and family, who are a part of our story. How blessed we've been for the past 35 years to be loved and encouraged... lifted up in prayer by you all. Thank you for sharing in our celebration by reading this blog... wish you could all join us for dinner tonight, but unfortunately Sam only made the reservation for 2 :)