masking & unveiling

Mike just told me he's going to link to my blog from his blog.

This is significant. First, because his blog actually gets read, whereas I will have to go a-begging for people to visit mine; second, because I will have to behave myself with what I write. Or at least I will feel like should, but I probably won't.

In fact, one of the core values of our church is authentic living, and that's basically in there because neither Mike nor I wanted us or any of our staff or our people to be asked to deny the grace of Christ and be anything different than who they are. (Note, however, that this is quite different from being asked to respond to the grace of Christ and become someone different than who you are. But that's a whole other fun blog post.)

So if Mike's readers are going to become my readers, I would like to interrupt this broadcast to say the one thing I've always wanted to say to the church:

My husband is the real deal.

That's the truth, and he's not paying me to say it -- not even in future diaper change credits. I've often thought, after hearing Mike teach on any given weekend, that if there were one punctuation mark I could add to make the message better, it would be the chance to tell you that as someone who spends some serious time with him, this man is not just talking. He's living this.

He loves God, and longs to spend time with Him. He fights for his faith. He prays constantly. He goes on hour-long walks at night and weeps for the church. He invites our neighbors to know God more. He's an amazing father, and a husband who loves me in practical ways on a daily basis. He gets giddy when he opens the Bible and asks God to meet him there so he'll have something to teach you. I've seen him actively engage his own fears, thoughts and personal demons and wrestle them to the ground so that he can be a more devoted follower of Jesus.

Is he perfect? Of course not (which would also be another whole fun blog post). And has he always been this way? No. The fact that God continually shapes him dramatically over the course of our marriage is a life preserver to me -- a living, breathing example that Jesus' promise to be the author and the finisher of our faith is true.

I just thought I'd let you all know what I have known for awhile now, because this Tuesday will be exactly 14 years since I became the luckiest girl in the world.

Happy anniversary, baby.