7 years...

Tomorrow marks 7 years.
It was the hottest Saturday of the summer of 2005.  I had just survived the 7 worst months of my life...my engagement.  David proposed in early December of 2004.  I excitedly bought my dress, sported my ring (just perfect for me!), and began planning.  Christmas came and went, and the in early January, I began feeling incredibly ill.  I came down with a bout of pneumonia that knocked me down for about 3 and half weeks.  I was sick off and on througout the rest of the winter, but my Gramma was gracious enough to care for me on the weekends at her home, so I could be strong enough during the weak to go to school and work.  Spring break rolled around and I was still weak, but all excited to start planning my wedding again!  However, the middle of March, my sister unexpectedly died.  About a month later, my dad had a heart attack.  And shortly after that, I had to have a tooth pulled.  During the procedure, I fell asleep (what can I say, the dentist was awesome!) and my tongue came down on the saw blade which cut my tongue, and required many stitches.  About 8 days later I graduated from college.  Oh, and a month later, I was in a car accident, eight days before my wedding.  And I found a bandaid in my hamburger while eating out that same day too! (hahaha!)
What an engagement!  What a prelude.
So, anyways, back to that hot, humid morning in June of '05.  Despite a series of events that would have landed most people in a mental rehab facility, I pressed on, and somehow planned a wedding in the midst of that.  I remember being so excited the day I married David.  I remember his tears rolling down his cheeks (there may have been snot too!) as I stood there just smiling.  I smiled so much that day that my jaw hurt.  I was giddy.  I was beaming.  I felt exactly the way a bride should feel.
For the last seven years I have felt that same love and happiness most days. However, as I've eluded to before, David and I have had a season that has been very rough at then end of 2011, beginning of 2012.  But, just like those hard times during our engagement, we have tried to remain joyful and hopeful.  We've tried our best to trust in our God.  We have believed in miracles and known that God could take our sins and wash them clean, we knew God could take our hurts and heal them, and we still hold tight to the fact that God will bring good out of everything we have been through.  
This anniversary that we are celebrating tomorrow is so sweet to me.  We have survived events that would have caused most people I know to throw in the towel.  We have battled hard and we have prayed even harder.  
In the process, I've seen tremendous spiritual growth in the two of us.  God is infiltrating every area of our lives: our morning radio programs, our wallets, our eating habits, our parenting habits, even our cell phone!  I'm sad that it took sin and misery to draw us close to God, but I'm so grateful that closeness to God was the result!
So, in summary, this anniversary is not only a celebration of our love for one another, but it's a celebration of God's love carrying us though.  Whether it is through times that are out of our hands (like all the bad things that happened during our engagement) or during seasons of sorrow caused by our own sins.
God is good.  Because of Him my marriage is good.  And I praise Him every day because He gave me my Dreamy David.  We are not perfect, but God created us to be best friends, lovers, and supporters for the rest of our lives.
Romans 8:28 tells us that "In all things God works together for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to His purpose."  I hope you can see how loving God doesn't make life perfect for us, but it reminds us of a God who is in control, who has our backs.  I also pray that you have that hope in your own life as well!