"When I have learnt to love God better than my earthly dearest, I shall love my earthly dearest better than I do now." C.S. Lewis

In case you didn’t know, this is Jason Black (he doesn’t get much face time). Today is our 3 year anniversary. It doesn’t feel like three years, but much longer (I’m not being funny) because we’ve known each other for 10 years this fall. TIME FLIES. In those 10 years we went LOTS of different ways, became different people, then met up again on the backside and look where we are now….

He loves Forest Gump… so let me describe “us” in those terms… We are like peas and carrots (ha.. I can’t believe I just typed that). Jason, as I’ve mentioned before, is my counterbalance. When he is wired, I’m calm and vice versa. He is type A to his innermost being and it would make the sanest person nuts, but I LOVE it about him. He rarely makes mistakes (it makes me crazy), is incredibly smart, is usually always right (did I just admit that), passionate, a perfectionist and puts so much time and thought into things. I tend to be the opposite, yet we go together....

I’ll never forget on the eve of our first anniversary-this is funny, so laugh- I remember saying, “WOW! A year! Can you BELIEVE we’ve been married a WHOLE year?!?” To which I got this reply, “Yep. It’s been a long year!” It didn’t at all come out right (which contradicts my above statements about him). Jason and I make it a point to be transparent in most things. We do not pretend life is bunnies and butterflies when it isn’t. Marriage is hard and the SINGLE hardest, yet most rewarding, task I’ve ever worked so diligently on (I’ve been a parent for 4.5 months, so I can’t compare just yet). Yet, I struggle blogging about this because there aren’t quite words to describe who he is to me. He, very often, is an earthly shelter for me, By that I mean that I seek his advice and learn from it, he is such a calming force in my life and always has a logical response to my insanely ridiculous thoughts/plans. He leads our family by prayer and what he feels like would honor our God. Jason encourages, challenges and spurs me on with a perfect recipe that doesn’t hurt my feelings nor lets me off the hook. He is passionate about the students that he works with and I LOVE sitting back and watching him work. He’s truly gifted- I get to reap the benefits of always having them in our home and they are a key part of who we are, I think.

Jason is pretty much the most selfless person I know and would drop ANYTHING to help someone out- ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES TO ‘HIS GIRLS.’ He loves our baby girl and is a wonderful dad to her-despite my early worries when he swore he would never change a dirty diaper (he does, for the record). There aren’t many things more precious than watching your child and husband interact. It’s super special.

I really feel as though I’ve done a poor job- I could keep going….. Happy Anniversary JB! I love you more than you’ll know and appreciate every ounce of your being and what you do for our little family! We are beyond blessed. P.S. I feel like that statement is used by people too often who just throw it out there and don't truly believe it.. We believe it! We live humbled by it! All the while, undeserving of it!