Five Years ago on this very day I was a giddy, ridiculous, selfish, immature 19 year old girl (read: child) about to say "I do" to the one man who actually dared to ask me to spend the remainder of my life with him and only him.

Somedays I can still be several of those horrific adjectives that I frequently use to describe high school girls. Somedays I wonder if he realizes what a mistake he made. Somedays my head is spinning so from this life we have created together that I forget to stop and thank him for everything.

By Everything, I really mean... Everything.

He took a chance on me when he probably should not have. One "friend" commented "You're about to make the biggest mistake of your life" when shown the engagement ring Will purchased for me. When I found out about that comment I was hurt for a long time. I've come to realize that "friend" was probably right at the time. When Will asked me to marry him he wanted a wife. That's not what he got.

He stayed by me despite the many reasons I gave him not to. I can't and won't drag out the downs of the past five years. We have had them though. As hard as those moments have been, they have transformed who we are as a couple.

He promised to love me forever, unconditionally. I feel so emotional when I think about this. Loving someone this way is easier said than done most days. In Ephesians when Paul talks about Men loving their wives as Christ loved the church, my mind is blown. As much as I would like to and as hard as I try, I can barely muster Christ like love for the people in my life that are "easy" to love. Unfortunately for my husband, I'm NOT easy to love. It makes me feel like the luckiest woman in the world to have a husband that commits himself to loving me forever and unconditionally like Jesus does.

So many things have happened and changed in the past five years. I've grown to love Will more now than I did on that day I said I do. I'm so thankful for his companionship and his ability to help me grow and shape me into the person I need to be. I'm thankful for building me up and being strong and logical when I'm not and for so many other things that I could go on for days about.

I never would have guessed that FIVE YEARS ago I would be in Durham, North Carolina with a 7 month old and another baby on the way, married to an underpaid (no offense Revolve Church!) Worship Leader. That's not the life I had planned, but now I wouldn't have it any other way.

Thank You Will for loving me and standing by me these past Five Years. I hope we have many, many more! Happy Anniversary!