Today is our anniversary.  We met in the fall of 1999, dated for three and a half long, confusing years, and married on a beautiful spring morning just like this one 12 years ago today.  I hoped I was doing the right thing.  I prayed I was doing the right thing.

There is no one in this world like Randy.  When I married him, I knew he was one-of-a-kind.  But I didn’t know how far-reaching it went.  Our kids think he is a normal dad.  People at the grocery store think he is a regular guy buying coffee.  People who hear him play music think he is a talented musician.  Our neighbors think he is an eccentric hermit who works all hours of the day and night out on the front porch.

I know this man better than any other human being.  And I will tell you that he burns with a fire I have never ever seen in any other living soul.  He is driven to learn and to know and to create and add something beautiful to this world in ways that make mad scientists look like children at play.  I love this man.  I cannot believe that somehow, I ended up sharing a home with him.  That my children have the amazing advantage of seeing what inspiration looks like, and what it means to live life with purpose and zeal.

I am thankful for his beautiful, passionate, tender heart.

God knows our marriage is not perfect, and that learning to forgive has been a major part of living together these twelve years.  We are still rubbing off some rough edges, some old, some new.  But God has been so good to us, to help us to grow together instead of apart.  To love each other differently, but more.

On our wedding day, I prayed I was doing the right thing.  A dozen years and five children later, there is no question about it.  This is the life for me.  I am truly home.