Blessed Number 13

Luck had nothing to do with it. God has shown me incredible favor!

13 has been my favorite number since I was seven and yet I know many people consider 13 to be an "unlucky" number (and seven to be a "lucky" number). Well regardless of what people may think about 13, today is my 13th wedding anniversary and I'm so excited!!!

My wife Kim is absolutely the most beautiful example of what loving God, following Christ, and being led by the Holy Spirit is supposed to look like in the whole world!

She is:
- Fine (read: smoking hot)
- Funny (read: she fills my days with so much joy)
- Sincere (read: if she says she will pray for you, she will ... a lot)
- Generous (read: "honey, where's my car?" ... "Well I met someone at
Starbucks who needed a ride ...")
- Godly (read: most every morning the first thing I see is Kim balled up on
the floor on her knees praying)
- Romantic (read: yes...read that. lots of that)
- Compassionate (read: if you hurt and you tell Kim, she hurts)
- Selfless (read: she spoils John, Laura, Emily and most of all me!)

And the list could go on and on and on (read: if you ask me in person why Kim is the most wonderful woman on the planet, you better have packed a lunch!)

On of the coolest parts of our story is that when God gave me a wife He double blessed me with a family at the same time! I will never forget the pure joy I felt as I said, "yes" to Kim and John and Laura on October 1, 1994! Since then, there hasn't been a day that I don't wake up and still can't believe how good God has been to me! And in 2 days, Kim, John, Laura, and I will celebrate God giving Emily to us on October 4, 1996 - yet one more reason to feel so favored!

Every year of the past 13 has been wonderful. I'm sure there have been some tough times and yet I can't remember one completely bad day. We don't have a perfect marriage and we are always praying to grow together and closer to God every day. But we have an incredible marriage! One that has defied the odds and been sweeter than either of us could ever imagined! We are still crazy in love with one another, deeply committed to one another, and forever grateful for one another.

I love you Kim! Always have. Always will. Forever. Thank you for 13 blessed years of marital bliss! I'm praying for a minimum of 37 more!

And God, I love you too! I know that a gift this excellent could only come from you! Thank you for being the Author of our story, the Savior of our lives, and the King of this world!

You have shown me incredible favor. Luck had nothing to do with it!