15 years!

This past Thursday marked a huge milestone in our marriage. The blessing of 15 years. Hard to believe it's been 15 years. That also means we have been together 17 years next month. That's right at half our lives. I am the first to admit our marriage has had some huge stumbles. That first year alone was a doozy. We were the closest to calling it quits about 6 years in. But we stuck through it... even went to several sessions for marriage counseling at the University of Arkansas. So no I am not a hypocrite when I recommend others to do the same. It did wonders for us. Another huge boost was finding our church that year. I cannot tell you enough the huge blessing these people have been in our lives. They are family and have been for the past 9+ years. As some know we live at least 2.5 hours away from both our parents. That means we can't just drop the kiddos off for a date night. However, our kiddos have some amazing step in grandparents from our church. Ms. Cathy and Mr. Dale have done so much for our family over the years. They are also our Sunday school teachers for our couples class. They have been the best example of what a Godly marriage and what Servant Leadership is. I can only hope to be a 10th of the blessing that they are to others. They watched our kiddos Friday night. The older 4 stayed the night while we got Ridlee after going to the movies and dinner. It was the first movie I have seen since before she was born. The kids of course had a blast and are already asking when the next time is.  I cannot fathom my life without my husband. I am glad we stuck through all those hard times. We both had a lot of growing up to do seeing how we married so young. But I feel we are more in love today than when we first married. Our lives will always be busy and on the go. With 5 children that will never change. Even when they are all out of the home we will then start the phase of grandparenting. Chaos will always be synonymous with our life. And that is ok.