My Valentine...plus two

On April 11, 1987 I vowed to love honor and obey Nathan Edward Davies. My best friend and love of my life. During the the first ten years we had our lovley daughters and on the outside everyone thought we had a wonderful marriage. However, love alone could not overcome the difficulties no one knew battled our home. In the summer of 1996, we separated and the girls and I moved to Merced. For five years, Nathan and remained friends dispite the rumors that were rampat in the circles we once fellowshiped. No one, not even our families could understand nor comprehend the battles we each as individuals had to wrestle with deep in the recesses of our minds and hearts. Each of us blaming the other, as did our families, until one day the Lord reminded us that OUR love could not overcome the obsticles we faced, but HIS love could. HIS love is perfect and that will cast out ALL FEAR!
December 2000, we decided we would rather live life toghether and see what God could do, rather than live apart and wonder if we had done everything possible. January 19, 2001 at the Old Spaghetti Factory, in front of our families, we took our vows all over again! After five years of divorce, we embarked not just another chance of a lifetime of love and and putting our family back together, (our girls were 11 and 9 by now), we had to deal with the issues that haunted us and allow God to heal that brokeness. (Thanks to the Hill's for thier patiences and help!)
What a journey this has been. It has NOT been a journey of marital bliss, that is for sure! But, God has given us a love and determination to see this through. I am saying this because marriage is work but worth every minute of it! We both are having to go places with God that are both painful, but yet healing for ourselves before we can become the spouse we need to be for each other. In doing this, we are developing a deeper relationship with God that goes beyond the emotion of "feeling" but knowing HIM. It is what we should have done BEFORE we got married, but we didn't.
Yes, we still face bumps in the road and communicating is a foreign language to my dear sweet hubby, unless of course it's on a web page. :0) Relationships take a lifetime to build, we just didn't have the right tools way back when, all I know is God has given us a deep love that keeps us striving for the marriage we have been working so hard for! And for Nathan, he is worth all the work, and tears we have invested in the accumlative 22 years.
I love you Nathan, and am glad to be your first wife and your second!

My girls are the best daughters I could have dreamed about!
This year we have come through a very devestating year for our family. We thought the divorce was rough when you were little, but this was worse than anything we ever had to face as a family, but what the devil meant to destroy you girls, and tear our family apart, GOD has only brought us as a whole, closer than we have ever been! You two have become godly young ladies that desire nothing less than Gods best and that just thrills Dad and I!
And since neither one of you have a "special friend" this Valentines day, Dad and I want you to be ours!
We love you and are so proud of you!
So there, My Valentine is my hubby, whom I love!
And OUR Valentines are our girls, until God sends that someone special thier way!