17 Years Ago Today...

17 years ago today Sandi and I stood up in front of 350 family members and friends at Bethesda Baptist Church in Allen Park, Michigan and vowed to live the rest of our lives as husband and wife. She was only 20 years old. I was much more mature clocking in at 22 years and 3 months of age...

Like most young couples we had no idea what the promises we made to each other on that day truly implied. We were desperately in love and had a simple, child-like faith that as long as we kept on loving each other we would overcome anything that life had to throw at us. And you know what? So far, so good. In fact, so far, so better. (God has been so faithful to us and has truly supplied our every need.)

Today we are celebrating our anniversary. Actually, we began celebrating yesterday. Here is how it works. Yesterday I planned a day for us that I tailored to what I thought Sandi would enjoy (this was all kept secret from her). The day started with her getting a haircut and taking care of a few odds and ends that needed to be done. Then we had lunch together (which we cooked together and talked through the entire experience). Afterwards we loaded up the bikes and I took her to a State Park where we rode some trails for a couple of hours. That turned out to be a great outing. The trails were really beautiful and we got a great work out. (Of course there were the minor issues of taking a wrong turn onto the "horse trail" that put a few extra miles onto the ride, and swallowing a few bugs as we rode through swarms of flies - but we survived all of that just fine. Just added a bit of extra excitement to the day!)

After a shower and change of clothes things really got exciting - we went shopping! I took Sandi to a large mall and said "OK, time to pick out some new clothes." So we shopped, and talked, and shopped some more. We found a pair of jeans that looked great on her and a few other items and then went out to dinner. But instead of an intimate, candle-lit dinner for two I had called a few friends and had them meet us at the restaurant. We actually ended up with about 12 friends who met us for dinner and celebrated our anniversary with us. We ate, Sandi talked, and I got to catch my breath while all of the other women talked with Sandi about all the things that women talk about on such occasions (men only have so many words to spend a day, and I was already way over my quota!)

After dinner we went out for some ice cream, talked some more, and then drove home to watch a movie. It was a great day, and hopefully it communicated to Sandi how much I love and appreciate her in some pretty simple, yet meaningful ways.

Today she has a few things planned for me. For the past 2 hours I have sat in silence reading the paper and working on the lap top - the day is already off to a wonderful start!