15 years! Wow! When we said “I do” in that little church in Milford all those years ago, there are so many things that I know we could not have imagined. (Hello FIVE girls!) Haha, but seriously, God has blessed us, challenged us and comforted us in so many ways.

I’ve scattered a few pictures of us throughout the post. Some are crappy cell phone pictures (back before the amazing iPhone cameras we now have), some are from my own first camera and the professional ones are from the amazing Rebekah Albaugh. We aren’t exchanging gifts this anniversary. Instead, we are doing an anniversary shoot with Rebekah in a couple of weeks! I cannot wait for new pictures of just the two of us.

I knew I wanted to do a blog post on our anniversary, but wasn’t quite sure what I wanted that to look like. And then a fellow Academy student blogged a letter to her hubby on their 3rd anniversary yesterday! I loved her idea, so I’m borrowing it. 🙂 You can check out Sara’s blog post to see her letter to Brandon. While you are there, check out her amazing work!

Here is a letter to Adam on the morning of our wedding day, if I knew then what I know now! We were such babes when we were married, just 23 years old. We’ve learned so much and have so much more to learn, about life, about love, about each other, about parenting, about forgiveness and grace and patience (although you are much better at that then me). 🙂

My dear, patient husband,

Wow! “Husband” I can’t believe we are actually MARRIED! Today is our beginning. In a few short hours, we are going to stand before God, family and friends and promise to love each other until death do us part. Our wedding day is going to be full of laughter, tears and fun! You are going to pledge to love Lexee as your own, and make the whole room cry as you present her with a ring that will forever be a reminder to her that you not only chose ME, but you also chose HER.

I’m not quite sure you understand what you have done, so here are a few things you should know.

1. I’m kind of a hot mess. I wear my emotions on my sleeve and cry often. A good hug, some ice cream and a hot bath will go a long way to bringing me back to reality. Don’t take the crying personally. Just extend me some grace and remind me that life really is amazing and you love me.
2. Ummmm, don’t freak out, but we are going to have FIVE daughters! Calm down, it’s good. You will love them, I promise! We will have two more pretty quickly and then need a nice long pause before we get crazy enough to have more. 
3. Going along with number 2, you should know that we are going to spend gobs of money and time on glitter, tutus, makeup, hair pins and stuff you never even heard of. Just don’t think about it too much. It’s better that you not really know. You will secretly love being a “dance dad”.
4. You are about to change your career path and go into ministry! Crazy, right?! You are going to go into youth ministry, graduate in general ministry and take a couple of jobs as youth/worship pastor. Hang on and trust God. This time in our lives is going to be hard, messy, painful and beautiful. We will be hurt by church in ways we never imagined. We will wrestle with what we believe, be hurt by some people we love and come out on the other end stronger. Oh, and I end up working in the church eventually too. Like you, I will grow immensely and come out scarred, bruised, beaten and yet, whole! Our experiences will bring us to new understanding of God, the Church and life. We will be thankful for this time in our lives, eventually. Just keep trusting.
5. You are going to get really good at housework. With 5 kids, it’s just part of the deal. You will complain, but you should learn to whistle while you work. I mean, might as well embrace it. 🙂
6. Our kids are going to be amazing! And you’ll be a great dad! Just keep laughing and pray often!
7. We kind of suck at communication. Neither one of us likes confrontation, which naturally comes when two sinners come together, and then have a bunch of kids. Keep trying, it gets better with practice.
8. Our honeymoon is going to be totally lame, aside from the time I swim with the dolphins and our trip to Xcaret. We definitely should not drink the water at that first little local restaurant we visit.
9. We need to laugh a lot! Keep being silly and play together. Date me and your girls. It’ll be worth it. 🙂
10. Marriage is HARD! You will not like me many days and I won’t like you some days. But, I’m not going anywhere. Hang on, give lots of hugs and words of encouragement and pray. We will have a beautiful, blessed life.

Love,

Your “almost wife”