The list

It started out quite simple, really.  I was 12, away for a month at church camp.  Our counselor gave us a pen, a piece of paper, and a mission: to think about the man that we would marry one day.  The counselor told us to write down any details about our future husbands - and to focus on the characteristics that we thought were the most important.  I closed my eyes and tried to picture him - and wrote down a list of 30 things that the 12-year-old me valued. 

After church camp ended, I tucked the list away and forgot about it. 15 years later, my mom somehow happened to find the folded up piece of paper and sent it to me shortly after Randy & I got married.  Looking over my list, I saw there are some things that, in my childish innocence, just don't matter today.  I'd love Randy if he had crooked teeth or had stinky breath (and he doesn't have dimples by the way).  But most of the things on my list came true - I married an honest, smart, and handsome man who has a firm set of beliefs and moral fiber.  And I love him very much.

I've been his wife for six months now, and nearly every day I could add things to the list about things that I love about him.  I love that he makes up silly songs or limericks out of nowhere and the look that he gives me when I tell a joke that isn't funny.  I see how he cares for me when I'm sick, hugs me when I'm sad, and sees right through me when I'm trying to hide my true feelings.  And I have seen his devotion and ability to remain firm in his beliefs regardless of the consequences. 

I am a very blessed and fortunate woman to have met Randy.  And although he doesn't meet every criteria that the 12-year-old-me set forth on paper so many years ago, I have to say that my life with him is better than I could have imagined.