Happy Birthday Susan

Today is my wife Susan’s, birthday.  Every now and then, I think back to what she was thinking when we started dating.  Though it’s hard to imagine, I wasn’t always as amazing as I am now.  In fact, if there was ever a time I could have used a Todd Hiestand re-design, it would have been upon entering freshmen year of college.

Dating Susan was a no-brainer for me but I always imagine her surrounded by dorm friends, pie-charts, plus and minus comparisons, spreadsheets, profile, anaylis, and headshots of other guys, and perhaps a lot of wine at our conservative Christian school trying to navigate the uncharted territory of Christian guys at our school (thank God, I was only up against Christian guys – lol).  Aside from me explaining to her that I was destined to have a lucrative career in youth ministry and that we would have a church van at our immediate disposal (provided that we properly sign it out), I’m not really sure what she was thinking.  Maybe she mooched off her friends too much and their encouragement of me was their revenge.  Maybe her former boyfriends were Kirby vacuum cleaner salesmen, or maybe she is crazier than me and I haven’t realized it yet.  Hmmmm.

Well, it’s been quite the year.  I’ve been saying that a lot lately and I hope (and for all of you) it becomes cliché because it generally means it was a year worth living.  Some of our prayers were answered this year and we’ve entered into a great season of parenthood.  We’re enjoying our church and receiving (and hopefully giving) a lot of love.

For years we’ve had conversations about the will of God and how they may not include our plans and dreams.  We were always convinced that our faith would not waiver for those types of reasons and sought His peace as we journeyed together.  These days, we’re better at doing life, our marriage is stronger, and we’ve been encouraged by God’s goodness once again.  We know that we will be in and out of good and tough seasons but it’s nice to have both kinds of pictures in the scrapbook.

Susan, you have become (and is becoming) an amazing woman.  Your beauty, joy, humor, spirit of forgiveness, and faith are gifts you give each day.  What can I give you on your birthday when material gifts would only dilute these words and my reciprocation wouldn’t measure up?  Still trying to figure that out after all these years, thanks for your patience, I hope our love is enough, Happy Birthday, Susan.