“Taste and see that the Lord is GOOD!”
-Psalms 34:8

This blog post is unique and special. Read on.

Once there was a girl…

Who loved Jesus and Hawthorne and lace and words and people, (but not crowds….) and boys….bad boys.

And  like  all young girls,  after having her heart gutted broken and left raw, bloody and barely beating …..

She met a boy.

And this boy loved music, the color black, his friends, and played in a band. Yes, a for-real, college rock-n-roll band. And he introduced the girl to Thai food. ( I should probably share that the boy before introduced me to sushi…I was a culinary hermit…)

And this boy listened to the girl and all her dark moody dreams and believed her when she said Jesus was real and that her house was haunted……

Six weeks, a dozen dinner dates and a She Hates Revenge concert…. and 1 +1 equals…….

Forever.

With baby on the way we still played like we were kids.

Because we were. I was still in college and my job consisted of slinging alcohol to other college kids…..

But for the first time, I was told I was good enough, smart enough, worth buying flowers for…. and that I (we) deserved a future.

And quickly,…….oh so quickly baby came.

And we were a family. And we went to work each day, and battled cholic at night and cried…and cried….and cried….. But slowly it got better, and Nathan got his job in Milledgeville so we committed to moving to crazy town.

But we had to make it legit….

I made my mother proud and wore a sundress.With two best friends to witness and the amazing Nathan Byrd, we got hitched in a UGA garden.

At age 22 and 23 we moved to Milly and started a life as adults, careers and a kid, and not a clue what we were doing…..

Corbin grew and it slowly it became normal.

It is funny the way we count our days. For us it is school years, and holidays. We gather and smile and wait for the flash.

The pictures that develop are what we have to mark that time in our lives.

It was a happy time. Not easy, but  every moment new,  exciting and happy.

Time flies…. and  soon one baby led to two.

And through this child I learned the sustaining power of God’s grace and how to be truly vulnerable….. I learned how lucky I was to have a spouse who would weep with me, hold me as we laid ourselves at the foot of the cross and plead for her life and health and waited for her to come.

And she came…. and nothing has been the same.

Gabriella is two now. Corbin five.

And everyday I wonder where the time has gone and how we are at this place. In the lows of the daily mundane and the wanderlust that grows inthemidst of life happening, we must take pause and reflect on what God has done for us.

And God has blessed us: abundantly, without condition and in spite of our ungrateful souls. I have nothing without the Lord. I feel much like David and proclaim that when I was low, He heard my cry and adorned me in robes that I did not deserve.

Today, Nathan and I have been married five years.  And while I relish in our love and fortitude to make this far, I also want to thank those around us. For all of you…. from my darling who introduced us, to my sister and besties who were with me through the crazy….

And now to the church family who has supported, nurtured, encouraged and prayed for us…. we would not have made it this far without you.

I hope that our story can give you some hope, joy and faith that the Lord is a redeemer, Savior and can make all things new.

“Some were fools through their sinful ways, and because of their iniquities suffered affliction;¹⁸ they loathed any kind of food, and they drew near to the gates of death.
¹⁹ Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.
²⁰ He sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction.
²¹ Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man!
²² And let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving, and tell of his deeds in songs of joy!” (Psalms 107:17-22)