Today is our 27^th wedding anniversary. We woke up to rain on the windows of an ordinary Thursday. Everyone racing through routines we’ve been in since the first day of school, but still running behind per the usual. Dishes piled high from the past few days and a hole leaking conveniently out the bottom of a 5 gallon water jug in the middle of it all. It is Trace’s last day of high school. My last day to see students for therapy. The day before our house fills to the brim with loved ones to hug and feed.

We exchanged snarky cards in the midst of the soggy morning and made plans to meet at the Rib Crib for supper with the kids. I know. The romance is almost sickening.

But for some reason if feels exactly as it should be. In a day full of extra and ordinary and emotions and routines it mirrors the fabric of our relationship.

In a conversation yesterday with a stranger, I mentioned that it was our 27^th anniversary today and she acted surprised. Wow, she said.

Wow indeed. The years have just piled up on each other. One big messy pile of moments and seasons,  arguments and conflict, vacations and laughter, conversations and decisions.

All duct taped together in one intentional decision. To do whatever it took to do life together as a team, until death do us part. To say no to every other and keep our eyes fixed on each other…even if we some times didn’t feel like it.

This is how our love lives and grows. In the sacrifice of two people knit together in extremely different ways and in the sanctifying grace of a commitment made before God.

Our love is nitty and gritty and tenacious. We arrive on this anniversary softened and reaping some of the fruit of the covenant made in 1988 when we were barely out of our teens. In a wedding created on a shoestring budget, we stood in a little church on Minter Lane and uttered words of promise without even knowing what we were promising.

So many words in my heart today that must wait for a time with more margin.

But instead of flying through one day of #may2015 on our way to another, I can’t help but pause because of the deep and wide love I’m feeling for this man of mine. Honestly, our imperfectly persevering love is what has brought us to all the fun of this month.

Caitlin captured this picture of us last summer on vacation. We were on a ferry after a long plane ride with a long drive still ahead. Vacations and traveling have always been the perfect storm of conflict with us. This miracle photo sits framed on my desk like a trophy for “Most Improved” couple.  Because those smiles are real and reflect layer upon layer of grace given and received. The stories that lie between us are what makes today feel as good as its ever been.

So… I love you darling and I can’t wait to spend the next 27 with you.