August 4 ~ 23 years!

Where has the time gone? It seems only yesterday Clayton and I met, when in fact it was 25 years ago! After a year of dating, Clayton's proposal went something like this: "Have you ever thought about us getting mar - ..." Me: "YES!" And so it goes. A lot has happened in 23 years. Two weeks after our third anniversary we welcomed Kuyler Lee into this world. As much as we wanted him to have a younger sibling, it took seven years and a fertility doctor. Two and a half months after our 10th anniversary Kolton Tee joined our family. Then much to our blessed surprise, 15 months later we had our first daughter, Kenzie LeAnne! Our joy turned into fear as we spent a week in the hospital, nearly losing her to RSV. But God truly turns ashes to beauty as He gave her the strength to survive, all the while calling Clayton to surrender his life to Christ! Nearly four years later and one month before our 16th anniversary, by God's grace, I accepted Jesus as my Savior. Two years later, soon after our 18th anniversary, to our amazement God opened our hearts to the miracle of adoption. Despite the seemingly insurmountable obstacles (not to mention our ages), we accepted God's invitation, and one day after our 19th anniversary, we received the referral call for our daughter, Kayden Faith. Two months after our 20th anniversary we were logged in with China again and three and a half months before our 22nd anniversary celebrated the homecoming of our daughter, Kambry Hope. On our 22nd anniversary we accepted God's invitation to join Him on another adoption journey and He revealed our son, Kaeleb Jon, two days later! Our 23rd anniversary seemed to come and go with the peaceful contentment of an abundant life in fellowship with Christ and the mate He planned for each of us - oh, and a houseful of beautiful kids! We've certainly had our bad times, but God's mercy has been abundant. We've grieved the loss of 1 mother and 2 fathers, but we have the hope of seeing them again in Heaven! Who knew what blessings Clayton's incomplete proposal would bring 25 years later?!?
Thank you, God, for giving me a hard-working man of integrity who seeks You and loves his family!