Best Friend,
Happy Five Years of marriage {and 11 years dating}! Can you believe it all began with me tracking you down {sounds better than stocking} in high school to get to know you better? I am pretty sure we knew each other for a total of 5 days before we starting “dating,” and we have never been apart since. We survived two years of exclusive dating in high school, a year of long distance and then 3 years of college all before the “I do’s.” God was faithful to grow us and shape us closer to Him and to each other. What a blessing to then marry my high school sweetheart. I remember when I thought having to date for 6 years before marriage was such a burden, but looking back it was such a beautiful gift. God allowed me to sharpen, and be sharpened by you even before we entered into our sacred covenant of marriage. I am not the same person at 26 as I was at 15 {PRAISE GOD} when I met you, and I owe a great amount of that to you. You have faithfully led me closer to the Lord for 11 years and I am so thankful for that. As I reflect on these 5 years of marriage I can truly say that you are my GREATEST earthly joy. You make me laugh, serve, and love me as Christ loves his Church. You are slow to anger and quick to forgive. You selfless in service and always point our family in the direction of Christ. You challenge me to be a better person and wife.
In these past five years we have travelled the United States, Europe and Asia together. We have parented two children and are about to welcome another into the world. I cannot imagine a better father, partner, and love to do life with. We have purchased and sold our first house, moved 5 times and now LIVE IN ASIA. Seriously, would you have every imagined? I echo Ruth when she spoke to Naomi “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.” You are a man worthy of all of my love, devotion and submission. I will follow you wherever you will go because I know it will be in good faith of the Lord. It is not always the easiest job to be a “ministry wife,” but as I look amongst the world and see the brokenness and pain that marriages and family experience I am thankful for the opportunity to serve alongside you wherever that may be. Moving to Bangkok as you know has been a great challenge to me, but I would do it 100 times over knowing that we are where God has called us. Watching you grow this year in your leadership and place the ministry has been such a great joy to me. I have loved sitting under your teachings on Sundays, listening to you process your vision and excitement of reaching ever man women and child with the gospel in India and Bangkok, and seeing you be stretched in every other area of ministry. Chutie, I love you more today than I did 5 years ago when we said I do. I cannot wait to see where to Lord brings our marriage and family in the coming years. God is the most beautiful author. I am so thankful for our story.
I love you ARMS WIDE,
Chutie.