One Year Anniversary

It hardly seems possible that one year ago Lee and I got married.

For our one year anniversary we decided to take a weekend trip to the Windy City. We headed to South Bend on Saturday evening and had an amazing meal at the Emporium.

We walked along the waters edge and just enjoyed the evening.

Sunday morning we got up early, headed to Panera to get our favorite bagels, and then headed to the airport. There we boarded the South Shore Railroad which is a train that takes you into downtown Chicago.

It quickly became apparent by the other members boarding the train that there were lots of events happening in Chicago on June 24 BESIDES our anniversary. After seeing multiple people in soccer jerseys we remembered that the Mexico vs. United States soccer game was at Soldier Field. Our next clue that some thing was going on was slightly less obvious.

Now some may suspect homosexuality by picking up on the clues like: men wearing more makeup than me, the girls with short hair, and the rainbow apparrel. Lee and I gave everyone the benefit of the doubt....and then we saw guys kissing other guys, girls kissing other girls, and lots of hand holding. Guess what day we chose to go to Chicago? The day of the Pride Parade. It was an experience to say the least. We saw things that us little country folk do not get to see on a daily basis. Oh man. Words cannot even express. It did make me realize something......Why on earth do we expect people who have never experienced the life changing power of Jesus Christ to live like they have? It's simply too hard. Even we who are believers struggle to live by Jesus' standards. I watched these individuals and could tell that they were desperately searching for something to fill the void in their souls, to heal past hurts, to manage unmet longings, to feel as though they belong to something, and I wonder is the Christian who cringes at their behavior loving them like Christ called us to love the lost? Who of us could live a righteous life apart from faith ? (Romans 1:17) How many people can say that they celebrated their first year of Christian marriage at a Gay Pride Parade? I mean honestly......it's ironic.

We got into the city and did some sight seeing and shopping and then headed to Giordano's for a famous pizza pie! Lee bought a map and consulted it religiously. I told him he should just put it away and his response was.........."I want people to know we are on vacation." He's so funny. I can poke fun all I want but we didn't get lost.

After the amazing pizza we purchased tickets for a boat tour of Chicago. It went down the river and then also out onto Lake Michigan. It was the perfect day for the ride, the weather was mid 70's, the day was overcast, so it was not blistering hot nor was the sun too much to tolerate. We thoroughly enjoyed this view of the city and the chance to see some of the incredible architecture. This was probably the highlight of the day for us both. We got to be out on the water, see the sights, and experience the grandness of such large buildings. After the boat tour we just walked around the city, stopped at various shops, went to Navy Pier, walked quickly through Millenium Park and before we knew it we had to head home. The train ride home was slow going. Lee and I were both tired from our day in the big city, ready for our beds, and wishing the work week would wait another day to begin. We spent the train ride home discussing the year in review, things we learned about marriage, major life happenings, things we were thankful for, goals for the next year and future years, and what we want our purpose as a couple to be. It was good to process and to look at how the Lord has blessed us over this past year. We've learned a lot, grown a lot, and had a blast being able to spend each day experiencing life with our best friend.

Starting year two..........here we go!