13 Years into "Happily Ever After"

My Husband ~

For thirteen years I have had the honor of traveling life’s road with Scott Underwood. In that time, we have experienced many things ~ unspeakable joy and unimaginable sorrow as well as opportunities to grow in our faith and to pursue our dreams. We have moved away from our families only to find that family is not only defined by birth and marriage but also by shared experiences and time investments. We have faced death and celebrated life. God’s great mercy and love have covered us and His protection and provision have amazed us.

As we begin our fourteenth year of marriage, I honor this man I deeply love. Scott, you are my husband, my lover, my confidante, my soul mate - the very beat of my heart and the sparkle in my eye. You are the man who takes my breath away and breathes life into every day we share together. You bring me joy and laughter and you hold me close in times of fear and grief. Thank you for making me smile and wiping away my tears. I am the luckiest (and most blessed!) girl I know. Becoming your wife was the most significant thing, outside of my salvation, that has ever happened to me. Being your wife the most precious thing, outside of my relationship with Christ, in my life. You are my hero, my knight in shining armor, the fulfiller of my dreams, the fixer of my problems, and the joy of my ife. I love you. Always.

These verse are the best way I know to celebrate who you are.

Micah 6:8 (your life verse) ~ No, O people, the LORD has already told you what is good, and this is what He requires: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
Scott, daily I see you live out this verse. You always seek justice, doing what is right, even if the benefit to doing so is not for you. Your very nature is mercy - extending grace and forgiveness when most would simply walk away. And how very much I admire your walk with God, marked by a humble awareness of your place before Him and a humble appreciation of His willingness to use you.

Psalm 27:4 ~ The one thing I ask of the LORD - the thing I seek most - is to live in the house of the LORD all the days of my life.
This verse is your very heartbeat - to dwell in the Lord’s presence at all times. Thank you for showing me and so many others what a life of worship really looks like.

Deuteronomy 31:6 ~ Be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid of them! The LORD your God will go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor forsake you.
Your steadfast faith and willingness to be obedient to the call of God on your life gives me such security! I never doubt that you are seeking the face of the Lord and willing to go wherever He leads.

Isaiah 6:8 ~ Then I heard the LORD asking, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me.”
Scott, when we moved to Brunswick, I never dreamed we would still be here almost nine years later. I guess neither of us really did. But even if we had known every thing that was going to happen - from losing your dad to your ITP - I know that you would still have chosen to “go for us” … to be faithful to the call of Christ in your life.

Matthew 6:33 ~ Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you.
Your focus on the eternal rather than the temporal is one of those things that amazes me! While some become “so heavenly minded they are no earthly good” you remain focused on Christ while ministering to others daily in His name.

Matthew 25:40 ~ And the King will tell them, “I assure you. When you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!”
I cannot begin to count the times your generosity and compassion have left me speechless and filled with wonder. From making a U-turn to go back and give a man some water to giving a server a 100% tip, you are always open to any and every opportunity to give - generously and sacrificially. Thank you for that example for our daughter and for those around us.

Mark 10:43 - 44 ~ But among you it should be quite different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant and whoever wants to be first must be the slave of all.
I think it must be very easy when you are a pastor to begin to think others should always be serving you (it seems so many do); but, that mindset has never been yours. It fills me with such wonder to watch how you will sacrifice your time and energy to meet the needs of others. The respect and honor you give to those who volunteer their time to play instruments and assist in your ministry is a rare expression these days. The loyalty you inspire among others is a testimony to the servant-leader you are. I believe it must make Christ Jesus very proud to watch you … for your life is the embodiment of this command!

1 Corinthians 13:4 -7 ~ Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged. It is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
Oh, my sweet Scott, if ever a passage of Scripture defined someone’s whole life - this one does for you! And how blessed I am to live in a home where these things are the rule not the exception - the example lived out not just the expectation given but not shown.

Genesis 2:24b ~ This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.
There is never a moment that passes when I question or doubt that our life, our marriage, is the priority relationship for you. What a blessing in a world where marriages are last on most people’s lists of relationships to nurture.

Song of Songs 6:3a ~ “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine!"
Is there a greater description of our life? I cannot find one. As much as one person can ever belong to another, know another, care for another, submit to another, cherish another, and love another, that is the life we live every single day. Thank you.

Ephesians 5:25 ~ And you husbands must love your wives with the same love Christ showed the church. He gave up His life for her.
I have often said it is very easy for me to submit to your leadership not just because I respect you and believe in you but more so because the love you have for me is what is described in this verse. I have always known that in any choice you always consider what is best for me and place that in highest priority, after obedience to God. Being your wife is the easiest thing I have ever done - and I am better in every way because you love me!

Ephesians 6:4 ~ And now a word to you fathers. Don’t make your children angry by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction approved by the Lord.
You are the best dad ever!!! When I watch you with Casiday I am immeasurably grateful for the love you have - the love the two of you share. I thank God for your dad who loved you and showed you what being a man of integrity and father worthy of respect looked like. How I wish he could see you and Casiday … but I know he would be so proud of you!

1 Thessalonians 5:18 ~ No matter what happens always be thankful, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
Since May 2004, I have watched you face hospitalization, procedures, chemo, surgeries, and so much more due to your ITP. I have seen you scared - not of dying but of missing out on the life we have dreamed of together. I have seen you share the love of God with more people than I could ever count. I have watched you bring peace into stressful times when you could have focused on your own stress. I have seen you share the spiritual and emotional healing of Christ with others when you were longing for your own physical healing. I have seen you share your testimony of faith and of God’s protection when others needed to know that God is bigger than illness and suffering. I have seen all of these things and so much more. And while I am sure you have questions why you have ITP and why the treatments have not worked - I have never seen you question God’s wisdom in allowing this or provision in guiding you through it. What a gift you have given me - a daily lesson in gratitude!

Scott, when I read God’s Word and see the descriptions of what His followers should look like, I see a picture of you. I know you are not perfect and that there are always areas of your life where God is at work. But, those things just make you more authentic, more approachable and more amazing to me.

Thank you for listening to me when I told you we were supposed to get married! Thank you for making every day since June 1, 1996, better than the one before. Thank you for promising me the rest of your life - and for being the happily in my ever after. I love you, always.

~ Your Wife