As a little girl, I had a man. He was my dad. I wanted to marry someone just like him – hard working, funny, strong, and wise. By God’s grace, I did just that sixteen years ago today. My man is not perfect, but that’s okay. His wife isn’t perfect, either! We’ve traveled many roads together in just sixteen years. We’ve moved nine times and visited two foreign countries together. We’ve endured personal heartaches more than once together. We have seen five babies born into our family. He was by my side as I buried my dad over nine years ago. He has cared for me when I was sick. He’s cheered for me when I’ve succeeded. When I got my first *paid* article published, he surprised me with a framed color copy of the check! Every time I see it in my room, I am reminded that I have someone who believes in me.

I cannot properly put into words what my husband means to me. He’s more than a friend. He’s more than  a soul-mate. He is as much a part of me as my hand or my heart. It has not always been this way. In our early days of marriage, we had more than a few disagreements. After one such argument, I was crying very hard and even scrunched down in a corner of our 500 square ft. apartment and cried out to the Lord, “I thought this was Your will! I wouldn’t have married him if You had said not to!”  I had mistakenly thought that life in God’s will would be trouble-free. I thought that we would live as one with perfect unity and harmony, because we believed we were marrying in “God’s will”. I had more than one person in my church go as far as to tell me that if God meant for two to marry, there would be no problems. In these sixteen years, I’ve learned that we are, in fact, in God’s will, despite the rough waters we have sailed through. We have managed, with much prayer and patience, to finally come upon that harmony that I had expected from day one. I guess I just wasn’t prepared for the work, the waiting, the listening, and the learning that it would take. God graciously has allowed me to come to this wonderful place in my life, and I’m so grateful. I owe each minute of my blissfully happy marriage to Him!

Happy anniversary to the greatest man alive, Terry Basham, II! I love you, Terry, and I pray God gives us many more years in which to serve Him together.