On Friday, June 3rd I got to celebrate five years of marraige to this handsome man. And, lie I will not- it's been a crazy five years. Lived on three different continents, traveled through four, two kids, and 8 homes/housing arrangements later (defined as a single location we lived in for a minimum of around three months or more- Riverside, South Korea, HEART, Grandma Fern's, Gilbert, East Africa House #1, East Africa House #2, East Africa House #3), here we are, still in love, and perhaps a little wiser (and crazier) than when we first wed on that beautiful day five years ago. Marriage is more work than I'd ever imagined, yet also more blessed than I'd ever imagined. I remember when we first got married and I was shocked upon realizing how selfish I really was. Often people get married thinking that the other person will change, when in reality what she (or he) should realize is that she will need to change, not the other. You can't change someone, you can only change yourself. You can influence someone, but you can't change them. That's for the good Lord to do. Marriage is constantly choosing another before yourself. It is a choice, a constant choice for another person. It's just so totally opposite of human nature. That's probably why so many marriages fail these days. Marriage is a lot of work. The biggest challenge of our lives, that is... before Miss Eden and Mr. Isaaq joined our lives...
I'm amazed at how our marriage affects our children. Nothing makes Eden smile more than when she sees her parents goofing off, and sharing hugs and kisses. Not even juice, or fun games, or cookies or even...cheese (!). Nothing makes Eden more upset than when she sees us upset with one another. I'm not exaggerating. And, kids are smart, you can't fool them. I remember how much it hurt to see my parents fighting when I was little. Though I'm not perfect, I learned much about parenting through those rough spots and I'm thankful for the ways He's grown me through those hard times. How we cherish those two sweet blessings in our lives. As my Poppers says, "Emi, you're a rich woman." That I am. I pray for the spouses of my babies, that they would fear the Lord, that their marriages would be as blessed as ours.

And truly, I love this man. He is steady and faithful. A slow burning flame. Not rash or quick-tempered. Gentle and gracious. Doesn't respond with harsh words, even when my tongue is not tamed. Interesed in hearing about my day, my joys, and my sorrows. Offers me grace, more often than I deserve. Enthusiastically eats whatever is on the table, and thanks me for the awesome peanut butter and jelly sandwich I made for him. My heart still skips a beat whenever I get an email from him when we're apart. Truth is, I love this man. Deeply.

For our anniversary, Seth took me to pick our some new perfume, lotion, and jewelry. It's really fancy perfume too, it comes with a glass wand to apply the perfume. Yea, I was pumped about that. I've wanted perfume with a glass wand my whole life (yes I am that lame:). And, I've discovered, it's a totally different experience when you wear lotion from your husband very differently than you would wear lotion that came from those little plastic bottles from your hotel room. Yes, there should be a different word used for lotion from your husband than lotion from hotels. Anyways, sweet gift. Instead of going out to eat and having our two little sweeties join us, we opted to order carry-out pizza, and enjoy a romantic evening in our home. So, Papa Clarkson went to get the pizza and I got the kiddos to bed. And, then it was just me and handsome hubby. Alone. We ate pizza, chips, drank Shirley Temples, and had scotcharoos and ice cream for dessert. Our background music was the CD Seth played on the night he proposed. I played for him the slideshow I had made for him. We danced. We laughed and reminisced and wondered what joys and challenges were ahead. Earlier that day, during our family "tea time" we watched our wedding video together as a family. It was so sweet. What a wonderful day. What a sweet marriage, blessed by our good Father. I am a rich woman.