So not everyone has the privilege to blog about their special day. The special day? Our wedding anniversary of course! Last year was the first year that I had the opportunity to blog about our special day and I even thought, mmmmm….I will not be able to blog about this again!
Well, I was wrong. You see, it is not a Same old, same old, Happy Anniversary, I will choose you a thousand times over, love you to the moon and back standard day. To me, every year that we have been spared together, is an absolute miracle right out of God’s hand.
This year’s anniversary will be different – we are on the road the entire day to our holiday destination. It is school holidays and I cannot remember when last we went to the coast during a school holiday. Decembers do not count, as that was almost the norm for so many years of our marriage.
Well then, none the less. I want to share with the world a bit more about my husband Heinrich. The one whom I prayed for. You see, I was not too specific in my prayer to God about my requirements. There were only two things that bothered me when I was young (and I did not know how to pray in my opinion, especially when I look back now, but anyway, moving on).
The first requirement was – my husband must be taller than what I am. So check God sorted that one for me. The second requirement was – my husband must wear pants that are sized bigger than mine. Yes, you may laugh. But at one stage, when I was young and skinny, there were these short and even skinnier guys who were interested in me. Nothing put me off more thinking I must date or marry a guy that wears a size 32 pants while I was a size 34 at that stage.
Stupid I know! But that was literally the only requirements I had. And come to think of it, it was just as well that I did not give God a longer list of requirements. Because I don’t think I would be able to choose it better than what He chose my husband for me. After 16 years of married life, we are even closer to each other than what we were when we got married. That is how it is supposed to be, is it not?
We understand each other better and I recon we bring the best out in each other. There is the odd occasion where we disagree about what seems like nothing, but, that is also needed and part of the process. Most important of all, we serve God together! In our own ways that suite our personalities best and we trust God absolutely for everything that we do.
Heinrich makes me laugh, has the funniest sense of humor (which I think rubbed off on me but was most probably always there, waiting to be found and developed in the right circumstances), he understands me, treats me with respect, calms me when needed, supports me, trusts me and loves me.
Like I said, I would not have been able to choose better. This is absolutely out of God’s hand that we found each other, which feels like a lifetime ago. I went through Facebook’s photos that I uploaded over the years. It was so nice to see and remember with each photograph, where we were at that given moment in time. Of course I wanted to make a slideshow. But to my frustration I am struggling a bit. So I hope the slideshow will see the light!
It feels so relevant to point out some good memories and a few less good ones of our married life together. In the 16 years of being married, we only moved into the house we are currently living in (yes, we have not had to endure the frustrations and patience of packing up a house together to move and I don’t know if and when we will ever do it). We have experienced together – two children, one ectopic pregnancy, one miscarriage, too many to count dachshunds (sausage dogs), one parrot, a whole lot of hamsters and a Pekingese.
We were even together in a magazine – but that was before we got married so that probably does not count? It was in the Accountancy SA so no major circulations and publications of us in a magazine! We started our day job’s business together, also before we got married…. during our married life a blog was born, giving the world a bit of a look into our lives, we experienced a Radio interview with me greeting the readers rather than listeners, something that we laugh about frequently (of course he tuned in and listened in depth hearing the mistake and not being able to help me to say the right thing).
We survived a Pandemic, wearing masks and sanitizing until end of days it felt. There were tough times, humorous laughing times, good times, better times and just normal ticking over times. But in all these times, God was there. He looked after us, provided for us, protected us. So many silly decisions that we wanted to make, thinking it was a good one, was stopped by God and when we look back, we can just stand in total awe and amazement of His guidance and grace that we experienced! We cannot help but to praise God for this!
Heinrich – I dedicate this piece and every piece that I will write for every year after this to you and our lives together. I thank God every day for you, that He borrowed you for my time on earth. At least you are still taller than what I am and I hope the size of the pants is still bigger than mine and that I did not become dikkes over the years, so that one of my two requirements have not fallen off the list. (Because, yes, I have not been a size 34 for many years now!!!).
May God give you even more wisdom and insight on how to handle things. May He bring us even closer to each other as we move closer to Him. May He still use us as a couple together to reach people, in a unique way, suitable for our unique personalities. Happy Anniversary, love you to the moon and back, choosing you a thousand times over!
