…I woke up in a church pew, after falling asleep there trying to complete a song for the lovely lady I was to see that day.  Later that afternoon in the chapel of Luther Seminary, we were married.

Many of you were there to celebrate with us.

One of the things I love about marriage is the fact that your spouse knows everything about you (good and bad) and stands beside you day after day.  You get to know your husband or wife more than anyone else.  You see all their idiosyncrasies and grow to love them because that is who they are.

One of the things I love about Sonja is the way she “makes up” words.  Of course, being married to a nitpicking wordsmith creates interesting conversations when this occurs.  Early in our marriage, we were setting up our bathroom curtains.  I asked if they looked okay and she said I ought to “gutch up” the right side a little.  I turned around and looked at her and asked, “How do you spell gutch?”  She smiled and said, “G-U-T-C-H” with a questioning inflection at the end.  We grabbed a dictionary.

It was not there.

We have about 10-15 of those interactions a year and it’s lots of fun.  It’s especially funny when it turns out that the word she used is actually a word, although I can’t tell who is more surprised when we find this out, ME or HER.

Anyway, thank you LORD for 8 years of marriage and for such a wonderful wife.