Today is James and my 8th anniversary.  I am so blessed to have such a special husband!   I love him even more today than I did the day we became 'more than friends'!
James and I have been best friends since I was 15 years old. 

My husband was truly an answer to prayer for me.... before I met him, I can't go into much detail about it, but I was very depressed, and really just wanted a good friend who would never let me down.  Someone who I could lean on and wouldn't end up hurting me.  I had dealt with a lot of hurt in the past from other people. 

I ended up praying to God every night, "Please, God, give me a friend who I can count on. Someone who will like me for who I am, and someone who won't end up turning on me.  Please give me someone who I can be myself with...someone I don't have to act a certain way in order to make happy. Please give me someone who will like me for who I am...someone who will stand by me no matter what. "

I prayed that same prayer for probably months, many times with tears in my eyes.

Then one day, I met James. 

James was friendly, hilariously funny, and made me feel like I finally had found that friend I needed.  We called each other every day, and we talked for hours, enjoying each other's company.  I could be myself around him, and it was such a welcome change from what I was used to! 

For one entire year, he came over and we shared thoughts, played games, and had so much fun together...he made me laugh like I hadn't in years....I had no idea the entire time that God had given me more than just a friend. 

I didn't know this, but James was in love with me the entire year that we shared together. 

His secret finally came out one day, when he showed me a letter he had written me during that year, and never had the courage to give me.  He did finally give it to me on January 12, 1996.
I was in church, sitting beside him, when he handed me the letter.

I won't go into all of the details of the letter, because they are personal....but when I got to the line where he wrote, "I am about to say something that I probably shouldn't say, but here goes.  I love you very much.", I remember the overwhelming feeling that came over me.  It was such a happiness that I can't possibly describe with words.  For the rest of that church service, we held hands and from that moment on, we knew we would get married. 

I had to wait till I was 18 to get married...my parents would not sign the papers for me earlier than that.   So we waited 2 years and we were finally able to get married.

It amazes me how God prepared things to happen in perfect timing.   If we had not waited until 1998, we would not have gotten the opportunity to buy the home that we are now living in.   Just months before we were married, this house we now live in became available to us (the home James has lived in most of his life), and we were able to move into a fully furnished house at a fraction of the cost it would have been anywhere else.    What a blessing!

Another blessing was that when the church found out that we were getting married, they immediately began making preparations to decorate the church, make a wedding cake, bring flowers, hire a pianist, and many more things ...to make my wedding wonderful!    And I honestly didn't even care about having any of that...I just wanted to be married to James.... that other stuff came as such a blessing to us.  They made our wedding beautiful for us!

I said all of that to say that James truly was God's answer to prayer for me.  It reminds me every time I think of it, how that God truly does answer our prayers. 
He KNOWS our needs and will find a way to give us what we need, if we only take the time to ask him and trust that He will provide according to His will.

I am so thankful that I have been given a husband that I can be so thankful for...someone who is truly my best friend.  

Here's a poem that I  wrote James in 1997 for Valentine's day:

Your Love has Filled the Empty Spot

My heart used to have an empty spot
That no one's love could fill
But since you started loving me,
My life has gone uphill.

I thank my God for giving me
The chance to have your love
I know that it could only have been
given to me from above.

I love you more than tongue can tell
I love you more each day
You've been the one I needed
In every circumstance, in every way.



Happy Anniversary, sweetie!