celebrating love, celebrating life

Friday marked five years -

Five years of promise,

Five years of favor.

Five years of learning, growing, becoming -

the 'Two that are One' as He intends.

But more on that later.

Today, I just want to share a few moments of our celebration.

A last minute get-a-way to a friends' quaint Lake Michigan hometown.

Beautiful beach small-town, beautiful company.

You know friends are true when they invite you into their world.

Phil & Mistey wanted to share a piece of their Haven with us.

Aaaaaaannnnnd, MOST importantly, volunteered to watch our precious ones so we could celebrate our big day 5 years ago!

After an absolutely perfect dinner at The Blue Moon (a fusion cafe that was soooooo us!) we walked the streets of Ludington, making our way to the beautiful beach.

Behind us is the 1/2 mile pier out to the lighthouse.

Strolling the pier, waves crashed around us -

a reminder of the force of His love.

Enjoying His presence as we enjoyed each other's -

the holy mystery of His design.

Remembering the past, adoring the present, dreaming of the future.

Who are we to enjoy such love, such blessing?

Prayers of gratitude filled the summer air, whisperings of two hearts that know what they deserve...

But Grace.

But Jesus.

That is the story of our love, the story of our life.

Our small story a thread in the tapestry He is weaving - a breathtaking work that tells of a Love Story this world cannot comprehend.

A righteous and good King.

A betrayal.

A Warrior Son who fights to the death,

To reclaim His bride.

To restore her beauty, restore her honor.

An adoption. Sonship to those who deserve death.

Heirs of the King. Co-Heirs with the Son.

Sharing in His glory,

Sharing in His love.

And so we find our earthly love, our spirit union a shadow of what is to come. A beautiful shadow of the glorious Love we will soon know.

Anyways...my heart is flying down a tangent. I promised to share our celebration with you.

Back to that.

We re-visited the pier & lighthouse on Saturday with the babies.

Belle loved the adventure...

Judah, however, was ready for a nap.

And fell fast asleep sitting straight up in Daddy's arms.

A magical few moments - right in the middle of an ordinary life.

But then again, when you walk with God, even the ordinary begins to shine with his glory & become something extraordinary.

Every good and perfect gift has His fingerprint all over it.

How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is! He's the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in him. Long before he laid down earth's foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son. Ephesians 1:3-6 (The Message)

celebrating His lavish gift-giving,

ejk