Friday, June 09, 2006

What can happen in

... 5 years time?

I can hardly believe it's been 5yrs since Mike and I said our vows! Where has the time gone. Starting last night, I began making a list of all the things we've been through in that time and well...

In 5yrs time, we experienced....

Locationally:
4 housing moves (starting in our trailor in Toccoa, to apartment in AL, to our 5 bedroom house in MN, to the church parsonage, to our current flat... of which we will be moving out of this summer...LOL)
2 state moves (starting in Georgia to Alabama and then Minnesota)
1 country move (US to Hong Kong)
vacations in Florida, Alaska, California, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Georgia and Alabama, and Thailand

Ministry:
seeing a group of 5 turn into 20
moving from a group of 20 to a group of 60+
having a total of over 100+ kids (they just automatically become a part of your family!)
seeing over 10 students that are currently in or studying to be in full-time ministry
trips to Mexico, Phoenix, Atlanta
more overnighters and retreats than we can count
broomball champs
seeing students dramatically change as they commit their lives to Christ
seeing students get excited about a 'drive by prayer' night
seeing students lead adults in worship
Mike becoming a pastor to Families
me being involved with Children's Church
having a student write about Mike for an article in the newpaper
having the chance to run a pilot 'Connexion'
attending an OGN conference

seeing God's calling come to fruition in our lives
being commissioned by our MN church

Educationally:
Mike being ordained and beginning his Master's
Me completing 1yr of my Master's
Both of us graduating from Toccoa

Physically:
mt bike accidents and broken bones, a sprained ankle too
motion sickness that turned to balance loss (and a scare of MS)
ear infections and gastritous that led to ER visits

Births:
Isabella
Addison
Karly
Laurel
and lots of babies of friends

Deaths:
Family members
Good friends
and one puppy (Raja... our first baby)

Miscarriage: So not your typical miscarriage but dealing with the adoption falling through was (I imagine) as difficult as dealing with a miscarriage

Random:
going a full year without seeing our family
worrying about how we'll eat to being debt free
making incredible friendships
saying more good-byes than I care to recollect
selling the majority of our belongings
giving away our puppies
owning my own music studio
too many flights to count... if only we started our frequent flyer miles earlier
the 1st birthday of our daughter


Wow... I'm sure there are many more things not listed here... like daily blessings or challenging/painful times yet through all of that... We're still going strong and still enjoying the journey the Lord has laid out for us! There's nothing better than 'doing life together' and I wouldn't have chosen any one else to spend the rest of my life with!

I love you so much Mike...
with all my heart, all my mind, all my soul and ALL my strength. And I will until one of us is deead.






I tried to put a picture up but bloggers not working properly so maybe tomorrow. :)

2 comments:

Deena said...

wow, now that is some 5 years!! and what wonderful 5 years!!!

Anonymous said...

Wow Melissa! You and your DH have been through a LOT in the past 5 years! Congrats on 5 years together! I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but I was born and raised in GA. And DH was born and raised in AL. So we've got those things in common....common areas of the country.

Hugs,
Rischa