buckle up. it's gonna be a bumpy ride.

I love this man. We have been married for almost 15 years, most of which have been awesome. However, when I think back on some things we've been through, I wonder how it is we are still here, still loving each other, still relatively sane, living the life of grown-up people, raising kids...and no one has bolted. Not the kids. Not us. No one has gone out for "milk" never to return. It's a wonder.

You see, when we married in March, I envisioned the beginning of springtime. Buds peeking out on the trees, grass starting to turn that gorgeous shade of green that invites you to throw down a blanket and have yourself a picnic. I imagined birds singing their happy little songs as we exited the church to begin our new life together.

Yeah.

What we got instead was snow and ice and what was being referred to as a "blizzard" in the South. Roads were being closed, and people began to panic because y'all all know if you live in the South that if anything white falls from the sky, you should consider investing in a cow and a bread machine. Because in a radius of 100 miles or so of the predicted flurry, there is nary a loaf of bread or jug of milk to be found. Most of the time these crazed shopping sprees are for naught, and the dreaded might be, maybe so, could happen snow never leaves the heavenlies. Or at best resembles dandruff. Not so on this particular occasion. We got ice and lots of it. We managed to get married, and guests even showed up. Bless their hearts. But we postponed our honeymoon when we found out that the only thing open in our planned destination in the mountains was a Shoney's, and no one had power. Lovely. We "skated" our way to some place in town and spent the night there.

This should have been a sign of things to come my friends. This was no boring life we were in for.

Fast forward one year. We decided to celebrate our anniversary with dinner and a movie. Not incredibly fancy plans, but we were happy with that. Until during our dinner, a rather large gentleman seated with his wife several tables away began to cough. And cough. To make a rather long story short, he got choked on his steak, presumably had a heart attack from the stress and passed away right there on the floor of the restaurant. The memory of his poor wife will forever be etched into my brain because they seated her at the end of our booth while the emergency personnel tried unsuccessfully to revive him. We could not leave. I will never forget their names and have over the years whispered a prayer on her behalf when I remembered our tragic first anniversary.

After that, other than welcoming our first baby into the world which was fantastic, we had a couple of relatively uneventful years until the Spring of 1998. I was home alone with our 2 year old and four months pregnant with Princess on a rainy, yucky day. Most of the day, all of the regular daytime t.v. programming had been preempted by weather news and warnings. I left it on just in case, but everything seemed to be happening in surrounding areas. Until that afternoon. I happened to hear the little "beep beep" for what seemed like the 173rd time that day, but this time I decided to take a look. And there they were, saying that a tornado had been spotted and was heading our direction in a matter of minutes. We lived in a very small house, and the only interior "room" was a closet. I still really didn't believe it, but I removed the vacuum cleaner from the closet to make room for me and the baby. No sooner than I had sat down with him on my lap, it was on top of us. My ears popped from the change in pressure, and then the deafening roar and crashing began. It couldn't have lasted for very long, although in my mind it couldn't be over soon enough. I remember vividly praying out loud for God to protect us as I held my toddler tightly next to me with one hand, and the door closed with the other. I didn't know if the house would collapse on us or if we'd end up in the next state. There is no knowing these things in the darkness of a coat closet. When the noise subsided, I opened the door to find that the house itself was still relatively intact. I ran outside to see the damage, and I could see through my neighbor's house. Half of it was completely gone. And our roof. It had been torn off right up to the place we had been sitting and then stopped. Coincidence? No, I don't think so. I believe God heard us that day...the prayers of a pregnant mommy and a two year old boy. I remember shaking and not being able to make my hands be still, but I did not cry. Not until I saw my husband running down the street to get to us. All of the roads were blocked by trees and sizzling power lines so he had to run pretty far to get home. When he got to the door, I remember falling into him, the gravity of it all just beginning to sink in.

We moved on from this event, having learned many lessons about what is really important in life and later that year had a beautiful baby girl.

We moved several times over the next few years and had another baby just two months before that little storm called Katrina left us in the wake of yet another natural disaster. I don't know why, but that whole weather thing is kicking our butts. Suffice it to say, yes, we evacuated, and came home to find a water mark almost six feet up our walls and the contents a total loss. Again, we were reminded of God's mercy and provision as our family was safe and sound, and God returned to us all the material things we lost. And more.

Jay used to joke that we pretty much had all the natural disasters covered except for an earthquake and a volcano, and that our next ministry position would surely be in California or Hawaii. Sometimes he is so not funny.

I guess what I've learned through our experiences together is that God is good. He is faithful. And that no matter what we go through, it can be used "for our good and for His glory."

I started out telling you about how much I love my husband. I really do, and I would not want to go through this sometimes crazy life with anyone else. We are good together. And we've ridden out a lot of "storms" together...the proverbial kind and those of the weather variety. He's kind and compassionate, patient and passionate about life, and such a way-better person than I am. He says he married up, but I'm quite sure I did. We are in this for the long-haul. Good times and bad, I'd follow him anywhere.

Well, except maybe California or Hawaii.