As we move into the Thanksgiving holiday, I want to take a few minutes to express how extremely grateful I am for my wonderful husband. This month marks 10 years of knowing each other. What began as a million questions from me as I tried to learn about his culture & country, turned into a wonderful friendship and eventually a love-filled marriage.
Have you ever had a time in your marriage when you can actually feel your love for your spouse growing deeper? That's what I've experienced these last couple of months. Through the pain & fear of what we've faced with Kip mine & Eric's love & respect for one another has deepened immensely.
On our wedding day we vowed to be with & support each other through good times & bad. On October 7, 2015, 2 months shy of our 5 year anniversary, we stood in a hospital room with sobs in our voices and verbalized our commitment again. We were facing the scariest thing to date of anything in either of our lives. Our little boy had a tumor in his spinal cord. So many questions surrounded the news...questions with possibly very scary answers. We pledged to put it in God's hands & get through this together.
Over the next few weeks Eric was with Kip & I at every appointment, he took calls from the hospital & set up appointments, he postponed as much work as possible in order to be with the kids & I. When I had my weak moments when fear would set in, he held me & let me cry, then gently encouraged me back to a positive mindset. I relied heavily on his gut instincts. When I needed to be left alone to dig through scriptures & talk with God, he gave me space.
Those first few days after Kip's surgery I was basically in the bed with him full time, with space & movement restrictions due to keeping Kip comfortable. Eric did everything he could to help me out. He'd get up & down from the couch or chair a million times a day & night to help...never complained; never said 'this is the last time'; never grew impatient.
After moving to the rehab facility, Eric has begun to split his nights between home & here. Our typically sweet & self disciplined Kory seemed to be taking advantage of our crazy circumstances right now. In his loving way he's been able to show her the attention she needs while at the same time laying down the law because the girl had about lost her mind I think! I've been so proud of how he's handled the situations that have arisen. By the time I know about an 'issue' and start to put my 2 cents in, he's already addressed it the way (or better than) I would've. He continually impresses me as I reflect on how he's grown as a father since I've known him.
While I can relay these facts & events to you, what I really can't put into words is the way my heart felt as I watched him hold Kip looking at the trainscape in Children's for literally hours just after we'd discussed the realm of possible outcomes due to surgery; or the tug my heart felt when Eric's face showed the regret he felt as he had to leave for work each day after he'd put off as much work as possible to play 'one more game' with the kids; or the way it made me feel when he looked at me and said, "You're being so strong" when I felt like I walked around as if I was a ton of broken pieces barely held together with tape just waiting to fall apart. Those are the moments I felt my heart grow. Those are the moments my love grew. Those are the moments my respect deepened. Those are the moments I'll treasure forever.
As I moved to Dallas in 2005, I never would've dreamed that I'd meet someone from Kenya that would eventually become my best friend, my loving husband, my help mate. I'm so thankful we can celebrate a 10 year friendshipaversary this month & a 5 year wedding anniversary next month!
Today and every day I'm grateful to God for this wonderful man that I get to spend my life with!
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