Thankful

Yesterday was Thanksgiving, and we spent the day with my parents and extended family here in Dallas. This afternoon we will head up to Enid to see Adam's side of the family - we are incredibly thankful for our families, and we love getting to celebrate with them. 

It was a year ago yesterday that Adam and I got engaged. It was the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, and I came home in the mid-afternoon after a bike ride with a friend around the lake (note: I was sweaty, had helmet hair, and wearing my oh-so-pretty spandex bike shorts. See picture.)

Adam was sitting in my front yard when I got home, but I didn't think anything of it - it was pretty typical for me to be running late and for him to be early. 

He surprised me with this on my front door...the email our friend Avery wrote to Adam asking if he wanted to have dinner with me. Apparently, Avery included what he thought Adam needed to know.

I opened the front door of my house and saw this...and then I wished I wasn't wearing spandex bike shorts.

He carefully walked me to the top of the stairs as we talked about the memories he had captured through the pictures, and then he read me the most beautiful poem. At the end, he told me he loved me for the first time, and asked me to marry him. He says I said, "Yes," before he hit his knee. That may be true.

I cannot remember being happier than I was right then. I had long looked forward to that moment, and my emotions overwhelmed me. I couldn't believe that Adam had chosen me. I figured, if he was excited to marry me after a bike workout, what more could I ask for? :)

This isn't the best picture, but it's in a frame in our kitchen, because I love the joy on both of our faces. 

We celebrated that night with family and friends,

and then went back to where we had our first date for dinner. 

I woke up early the next morning, Thanksgiving Day, more thankful than I had ever felt before. 

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says, "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." The day we got engaged, it was easy to be thankful to the Lord. Today, one year later, we are not only married, but we are expecting a precious baby girl - and again, it's easy to be thankful. There have been difficult things along the way, and I want desperately to be someone who lives out this verse, regardless of the circumstances in life. I have a long way to go, but I am starting by making a list of current circumstances that it's difficult for me to have a thankful heart in the midst of, and asking God to remind of reasons to be thankful in each of those.  I am definitely thankful that the Lord continues to be patient with me as He grows me in this area.

I thought I couldn't love Adam more the day he proposed. Then I married him, and thought I couldn't love him more than I did that day. A year later, my love for him continues to grow. 

I can't wait for tomorrow.

Happy Thanksgiving!