30 years and counting

Dear Michael,

I know I (we...your friends) tease you about being the "old man" of the group because you are older than the rest of us; however, what we really mean is that we love the wisdom of your years and the fun stories that God has given you over your life (that is just a tad longer than ours)! You are a blessing to my life and that of our family and friends. Our children are amazingly blessed to have a father who seeks desperately to show them the True Father! Your sacrifice, generosity, compassion, love, and wisdom (as well as your "geekiness") are a beautiful picture of God's working in your life. 

Thank you for how you've led our family and for your patience in following our Father's plan for our life. Even in the difficult times, you remain faithful to our God and never waiver in the calling he has placed on your life. Thank you for being that steady, faithful man and leading/protecting/providing for our family. 

Happy 30th Birthday, my Love! 

Praising God for 30 years of life for you and begging him for many more! 

Now, in honor of your 30th birthday...30 things about you that I adore! 

1. Your faith in our Savior. 

2. Your good looks ;) 

3. Taking me to Uganda for 6 months. Life.Changing! Thank you! 

4. How you sacrifice things of this world (money, possessions, etc) to follow where HE leads. 

Thanks for being faithful to your calling.

5. The way you supported me during both pregnancies and births. No doula needed...you were the best support and help I could've ever dreamed of! 

6. Family means the world to you! Thank you for ALWAYS putting us first!

7. Your pursuit of further education--Academy (even though I complain about it a lot, I love that you are digging deeper and always learning).

8. Your love of history.

9. Your desire to share history with others.

10. How you share our families' stories & memories with our children so they will know where they came from...and that their deceased family members would've LOVED knowing them!

11. How you make E feel like a princess! 

12. The way you drop everything to dance with her to "Cinderella" in the "ballroom"! I could cry every time! 

13. That you're always up for a photo op. Good thing, because I'm always wanting to take photos :)

14. Your kisses (is that too mushy for a blog post? Oh well if it is!)

15. Your pure enjoyment of good food.

16. That everything I cook for you is "bangin'". 

17. I love holding hands with you.

18. I love that you hold our little girl's hand! 

19. That E says she's going to marry you

(I'll never tell her she can't. Its precious that she sees the amazing man you are and wants to have you all to herself...forever! One day that will change, but for now, E is going to marry you one day)

20. Celebrating with you. So glad that you enjoy making a big deal out of the little things in life...and the big things too! 

21. How social you are. You seem to always find a way to connect with people...even strangers. 

22. You love for all things coffee!

23. Seeing how excited you were about having a son! How you would stay awake at night dreaming about names for him! 

24. Your helpfulness with the babes...especially in this season of waking up at night. You always hear them before me, and sometimes get them back to sleep without even waking me. 

25. Dating you! You've always been wonderful at planning dates. 

26. How you carve out time for me to have "alone time" several days out of the week. Even if its only 30 minutes or so. I need that. Thank you!

27. Your love for books! 

28. Your passion in worship of Christ. 

29. How romantic you are! That's rare and I love it!

30. Our Story...

God has given us an amazing story together. Everything from how we met, how I fell for you before you ever knew I existed, how I prayed to marry you for years, how you finally recognized that I was alive, how you were careful with my heart (and yours), our date-ship, our engagement story (most romantic thing EVER!), our wedding, our lives these last 5+ years. I honestly cannot wait to see what God has in store for us in the next years. The good, the not-so-great, the fun, the sad, the changes, the mundane...I'm excited for it all because it'll be with you!

Happy 30th Birthday, Love!