Dinner For Two...on a Christmas Blanket

Going on dates is extremely important to Brad and I. We pretty much new as soon as Brad began working in ministry in 2008, that having time away together was vital to our marriage. We refuse to allow our marriage to work like a business....which it SO easily turns into. "I'll take care of this, you take care of that, I'll get up with the baby this time if you pay me back later... meet me back here at 5:30pm after work for our next business meeting..." We can't change the fact that our lives are a little nutty right now: 3 kids (ages 6, 4, 1), an adoption process (make that 4 kids!), and ministry (lots of people, lots of events, lots of ups and downs) . We love our lives and the crazy in it has really taught us what it means to find peace and rest, not through circumstances, but in our savior Jesus Christ. We know that dates won't cure any heart issues and they really aren't the answer to fixing a marriage like we've been told at times. Jesus is the only answer to those, but dates are a very useful tool in marriage. Lately we've been trying to save money so we haven't been going on dates as often, which actually helps us appreciate them more. So last night we got a babysitter for Silas and Ellie (Noah spent the night with his best bud) and we hopped in Brad's big 'ol white chevy truck, turned on some country music and headed out to Fort Worth...it is scary how much of a Texan I'm turning into after only living here for 4 and half years.

 We went to one of my favorite places: The Central Market in Fort Worth. I love just walking through the aisles with my husband and smelling, sampling, and dreaming of all the possibilities for perfectly healthy and delicious meals that I could make but never will because I have not yet won the lottery.  We picked out a few of our favorites for dinner and headed to the botanical gardens in Fort Worth.

 *Sigh...I love this moment. This is my "I'm on a date with my husband and I'm about to eat the best tomato soup EVER smile."

Here's my hubby! Because my SLR camera is too giant to take those cute little snuggle, while you awkwardly hold out your arm and force a smile pictures, we took them separately...just so you know that both of us in fact were present on our date :o)

This is how we roll: tomato soup, fresh rolls, sushi, chicken salad, and blueberry pie sitting on top of Christmas blankets.

It was a beautiful night. August in Texas is typically less than beautiful. This cool night, with a sunset that brought me back to my childhood in Kansas, eating good food with the man I love, talking and laughing about life, was such a gift to us. I'm such a task-oriented person, so give me a list of to-dos and I will put my head down and GO until I don't even realize how physically and mentally drained I am. This is where my husband comes in and forces me to just STOP. What I'm learning is that the tasks and the laundry and the paperwork and the dishes are ALWAYS there. They can ALWAYS consume me if I let them and all the while I will miss out on finding true joy in what God has put around me. That is my absolute downfall. This is why God designed my husband to be relationship-oriented, fun, and last minute. We are so very different. We were both very excited last night when we realized that both of us LOVE Fall...it is our favorite season! We DO have something in common! I'm so thankful that a healthy marriage doesn't hinge on commonalities!

For those of you who don't know anything about us or our marriage, here is our history in a very tight nutshell: I met Brad in college in 2003 through his sister Anna, Brad and I instantly connect, and Brad calls me up like a real man and asked me to go on a date. From there we dated for 5 months, got engaged, engaged for 6 months, married November 20th 2004, after 10 months of marriage, got pregnant with Silas, had Silas, when Silas was 10 months old, got pregnant with Noah, when Noah was 2 months old, we knew we were called into ministry and we moved away from our dear families in Kansas City down to Arlington, TX to go on staff at our Church, settled down here and got pregnant with Ellie when Noah was almost 3. So here we are almost 8 years into marriage and doing really well, by the grace of God! PHEW!!! If you need to go take a nap, I completely understand.

I could write forever on marriage but all I want to say is that every day we learn how much we need Jesus. In our marriage, in our parenting, in our ministry, in our adoption process. Last night was such a good chance to remember this, to celebrate, and to love each other. I am very blessed.