Today marks the eighth anniversary of when I asked Renée if I might date her (from afar, I might add).  It has been a glorious eight years!  And so, I share with you a few of the things that I love about my wonderful bride:

1. I love how she often debates between tea and hot chocolate.
2. I love her preference need for the oval-shaped pills, not the round ones.
3. I love her little piles of rosebush clippings spread about the yard (laid straight and neat, though, mind you).
4. I love that she can eat an entire meal without taking a single sip of water, despite my constant reminders.
5. I love that she absolutely loves food.
6. I love that she continues to play Carcassonne with me despite the fact that I have crushed her every game (save one) for the last two years (and especially in last night’s game, I beat her by 59 points).
7. I love that she seems to be allergic to taking out the garbage and the diaper pail contents.
8. I love that she likes to sing me the theme song from “North & South”.
9. I love that her head lines up right with my chest.
10. I love that she tells me what I like (”You like it and you know it!”).
11. I love that she is an amazing mother.
12. I love that she is an amazing wife.

I love you, sweetheart/PWPP/MT/BB!

Today, eight years ago, Mark asked for the honor of courting me. Wow! Eight wonderful years together. I am a blessed woman indeed. I love you, Mark!

Dude, gotta love sequential versus parallel processing. Completely amazing!

A couple of my little quirks made it on the blog today. There’s probably quite a few if I sat more than a second to think of them. Hmmm, maybe a future post? Anyway, here’s how the conversation went this morning:

Mark: “My wife! She doesn’t eat the end of French fries, and she doesn’t eat the edges of her pop tarts!”

Sam: “HA HA!!!”

Renee: (Just smiles).

This morning, Renée told me that I was singing in my sleep.  I actually remember it a little bit.  Around 3:30am I remember searching through the iTunes library in my head for something to listen to, and I found a song and started singing along to it.

Well, apparently Renée didn’t like that I was singing, as it had disturbed her slumber, so she quietly and politely “shushed” me back to sleep, where I just basically stopped singing, rolled over, and went back to sleep.

P.S. And I’m thankful… sleep is a precious commodity for us these days!

This past Saturday we experienced something quite beautiful. Our friend Julia gathered 20 friends and their children to come over for a time of fellowship, Mexican potluck and prayer. After we ate, the children played in the back yard while the adults stayed inside to pray. They laid hands on Mark and Noah, anointed us with oil, and poured out their hearts to God on our behalf.

We’re still making slow progress with Noah, and some days are still very hard. Satan, that liar and deceiver, has been trying to attack our hearts in three areas: one, that we’re isolated (e.g., we’re in this alone, no one really cares, no one understands, people are getting sick of helping you because this has gone on for so long); two, we should stop praying (e.g., why bother to pray, it’s obvious it isn’t helping, Noah’s still not eating, and you’re really not at the top of God’s to do list anyway); and third, that God’s character is on trial (e.g., can God really be good? if He was you’d be out of this situation by now, He’s not good and He must not love you or care about you very much).

As our friends prayed, the amazing thing to witness was that the Holy Spirit laid on their hearts to specifically pray against these lies. The very fact that there were 20+ people praying in our home showed us that we’re not alone and there are kind and faithful friends committed to seeking God on our behalf, willing to be a phone call away to stop and pray with us if needed. And of course satan doesn’t want us to pray—he knows the power of prayer and is happy to make us believe we’re defeated instead of us knowing we have victory in Jesus. So we continue to ask, seek and knock, and cry out to Him, for where we are weak He is strong! They also prayed that we would “taste and see that the Lord is good,” that He is working on our behalf, cares for us, and is meeting our needs… “I am confident I will see the Lord’s goodness while I am here in the land of the living. Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord” (Ps. 27:13-14).

In between friends praying, some would read a portion of Scripture or offer an encouraging word. We prayed that satan would not rob us of our joy, for the joy of the Lord is our strength! And we need His joy and strength to continue to run this race. It was really an incredible time—we felt so encouraged and refreshed afterwards, like we had wind in our sails again. We’ve even been able to proclaim “God is good!” in the midst of bad reflux episodes. There were a few people who showed up that we had never even met before! Yet here they were to pray for our family. It just goes to show you how deep that bond in the Lord is between brothers and sisters in Christ. So now we have new friends, too! We are humbled, we are blessed, and we have seen His love poured out through His saints this past weekend. Many heartfelt and sincere thanks to those of you who came and blessed us as you did. We will remember this always.

A couple rough days this last week have brought me to my knees. I am so weary and know that I can’t endure this alone (course that’s just where He wants me, no)? For His power is perfect in weakness. And let me tell ya, I’m pretty weak. But I was introduced to a new hymn a few weeks ago that I really enjoy, especially the last verse. I’m just excited to be Home someday!

Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
That calls me from a world of care,
And bids me at my Father’s throne
Make all my wants and wishes known.
In seasons of distress and grief,
My soul has often found relief
And oft escaped the tempter’s snare
By thy return, sweet hour of prayer!

Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
The joys I feel, the bliss I share,
Of those whose anxious spirits burn
With strong desires for thy return!
With such I hasten to the place
Where God my Savior shows His face,
And gladly take my station there,
And wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!

Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
Thy wings shall my petition bear
To Him whose truth and faithfulness
Engage the waiting soul to bless.
And since He bids me seek His face,
Believe His Word and trust His grace,
I’ll cast on Him my every care,
And wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!

Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
May I thy consolation share,
Till, from Mount Pisgah’s lofty height,
I view my home and take my flight:
This robe of flesh I’ll drop and rise
To seize the everlasting prize;
And shout, while passing through the air,
“Farewell, farewell, sweet hour of prayer!”

I just had to laugh at the news headlines on CNN today:

Man struck by lightning, says ‘it hurt’
(Duh, ya think)!?

Toilet-trained chimp on the loose in California
(and all the Moms are wanting to invite him over so he can show their toddlers how it’s done)!

Starbucks to close 600 stores
(and Renee does the dance for joy, down with the evil empire! Mwuhahahaha)!