Day #10: Love The Unexpected

I never expected to meet my husband in  4th period english class my junior year of high school.

But I did.

I married him a week and a day after the two of us graduated from college.

3 years ago today.

It was a really rainy day.

In fact it was insane rain.

The kind that would lead you to turn on your flashers if you were driving in it.

But all of the sudden, the rain stopped.

The sun shined.

Our planned outdoor wedding would happen just the way we had hoped.

We weren’t expecting that.

I love looking back on this day that made us one forever, just a short three years ago.

I look back and smile at the memory of the day we planned from start to finish.

I loved our wedding.

I loved our moments.

I loved that God cleared the skies and gave us sunshine.

I love that I had the flowers I picked and the perfect songs playing.

I love that I had sweet friends and family surrounding me.

But today as I reflect the anniversary of our “I do”, I realize that our marriage has been full of the most unexpected things.

We married each other, which means we married each others EVERYTHING.

We walked through crippling debt.

Yes, we were “poor newly weds”

To any the people who said, “We will live on love” that is very sweet, but please, for the sake of the loved one you are speaking this over, do not glamorize that life. Consider rephrasing your story to tell about how the two of you actually survived because you fought for the best, because you fought for the future of your marriage and potential family. 

You fought for it together.

and in that fighting for the good you found the more of Jesus.

We weren’t expecting that.

I suffered from pretty intense anxiety.

And showed little to no sign of it until the honeymoon was over.

I am sure my husband wasn’t expecting that.

But he partnered with me.

He listened to my anxious thoughts.

He prayed for me and with me.

He fought for my heart and still does.

every. single. day.

In experiencing a kind husband in the midst of painful anxiety, I learned the power of knowing who you are and living confidently in that.

I wasn’t expecting that.

We decided to open two businesses together.

He opened one on his own.

They were all scary.

We weren’t expecting that.

We were expecting to be safe.

But we wouldn’t be us if we played it safe and expected.

Cody Bell dives. very. very. deep.

and he is never scared. never y’all. never. 

And in that, He has taught me the power of knowing the Lord deeper and trusting Him with all of myself.

Trusting Him in a way I never knew existed.

I wasn’t expecting that.

We moved 4 (almost 5) times in three years.

All while living in the same city.

We weren’t expecting that.

We didn’t know that in that moving the Lord would pay off all our debt.

But He did.

We learned to love Him more in the moving.

We weren’t expecting that.

We have flipped one house and are working on our third.

We traveled to Texas and went to coffee school.

We learned how to cut back on living expenses.

We learned how to pray and ask God for favor and blessing when mountains were too big for us to move.

We learned how to communicate with people well above our status.

We have learned the art of hard work. It pretty much just looks like hard work and working jobs nobody else is willing to work.

I never expected that life beyond my wedding day would be so brilliantly challenging and miraculous.

I never expected to marry the boy who walked into my 11th grade english class.

To all my friends reading this, married, engaged, or single, I hope you see the power of the unexpected.

May your unexpected give you vision to see beyond.

Where you struggle to find a job but look at it as an opportunity to work a little harder than those who had that easy.

Where it is okay to “not be okay” and seeking out help is healthy and powerful.

Where you will make choices that may make you look dumb, but more than likely you’ll be the one helping someone else have confidence in their dreams.

Where money is tight but the Lord teaches you how to steward your money well to leave inheritance for your children’s children.

Where you might have great success with your goals, and you get to help others achieve those same successes.

May your days be filled with the unexpected.

The kind of surprises that stun you and make your life all the more worth living.

Day 10: love the unexpected.

To my Dearest Cody-Love,

I have never in all my life known a person with so much humble strength. Your mercy astounds me with how you love the people in your life with intentional kindness and love.  You never ask for anything out of others, only what you can sacrifice. You teach me more about the heart of Jesus in your waking and your sleeping. In three years of knowing and loving you as your wife, I have learned more about the power than comes when a man loves the Lord and loves his wife. I love that I get to be the woman who receives that love consistently. You are my closest companion and the greatest friend I have ever had. I’ll never know how I got so lucky to be your girl.

Happy Anniversary to you, my love.

3 years of the most insane ride.

I hate rollercoasters.

So, thank God this one takes us only to the good heights.

I’ll love you forever.