The Best Decision of My Life…Twenty Years and Counting

I decided to take one last class before I graduate in December, and while I am enjoying the subject matter, there is so much reading that I don’t find time to blog as I want. Thankfully, it is only seven weeks, so we are nearly halfway through it. It is the last class with papers, so I look forward to it ending. Sometimes, we make bad decisions and must live through them.

But one great decision I made was to marry Douglas on this date twenty years ago. I shudder when I think that when I received his email from the Christian dating site we were subscribed to, I sent him a note telling him that he had sent the message to the wrong person, mainly because of our racial differences. But he believed we were meant to be together and that our relationship was divinely appointed. Who can argue with God?

Today, as we celebrate with a steak dinner at Longhorn, I am grateful for my husband. I find reasons every day to thank God for the gift of a good husband. The Bible says a good spouse is a gift from God, a treasure, and a good thing. Yes, we have had our ups and downs, but I learned early in our marriage to distinguish between what issues are worth discussing and which are not worth losing my joy and peace. For instance, we have different opinions on how toilet paper should fall and how to place the top sheet on the bed.

I decided one day that if all we had to fight about was toilet tissue and bed sheets, then we were blessed to have each other. So, whoever makes the bed puts the sheet on how they were taught, and I found that how he places the roll of toilet tissue doesn’t impact me at all. So, in this life, you choose your battles and remember that being loved and sharing love are the greatest gifts that God gave to human beings in the land of the living.

So, today, I am so grateful and excited to have spent 20 years with the “gift that keeps on giving,” a husband who I know loves me and treasures me as a person and as his wife. We thank God that when He looked down and saw two of His children lonely and in need of a good mate who would lift them up and support them in their endeavors, He intervened in our lives. God changed how I responded to my husband early in the marriage when I asked Him to change Douglas. As we celebrate twenty years and head toward “until death do we part, I thank God for the gift of a good man. I thank Douglas for making my life so adventuresome and meaningful. To God be the glory for the great things He has done in our lives and for victory in marriage.

We did it, Dougie, and you are still the best, better than all the rest! I love you so much, sweetheart. The best decision I ever made!