sixteen years

November 22nd, 1993, around 11:00pm on a beach in Santa Monica, I committed my life to follow Jesus wherever he led me. I was baptized as a Christian and began this incredible journey that I have been on ever since. I am in awe of the love and patience that God has shown me over the years. I have no words for the excitement I feel right now about where he is taking me in the years to come.

I have a marriage now that I don't deserve and would never have been able to pull off without him. We recently celebrated our 19th anniversary. We've almost been married longer than we weren't. And we still like each other.

I have a teenage daughter who loves me and likes to be silly with me. And, she loves her mother like nothing I have ever seen.

I have a son who loves to create, who can't go to sleep at night unless I have tickled him, and who's favorite activity is to give me a "jump hug." That means he takes a running start from the other side of the house and jumps onto me at high velocity. I don't know how much longer my body can withstand the impact, but I'll do it as long as I can just to have that moment with him.

I have a great relationship with my parents that keeps getting better as the years go by.

Every day, in my job, I get to watch people's lives change as they fight for their relationship with God. I get to see miracles. I see marriages saved, families reunited, addictions overcome, inaccurate views of God made more clear, forgiveness granted and received, and the peace that transcends understanding. I get to see teenagers make real decisions to follow God and reject the lies that the world is feeding them. I get to see people learn to worship God with all of their heart and soul, and not just their mind.

Thank you to all of you have been my friends over the years, for the encouragement, the love that you have shown me, and the many times you have forgiven me for the ways I mess up.

Thank you, Father, for this gift of forgiveness, for a real sense of purpose, for this life that I could never have imagined for myself. I can't wait to see where we go next...

"...plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future..." Jeremiah 29:11