Happy Anniversary

9 years ago today God began a whole new chapter of my life (and honestly it has by far been my favorite one!). I often say that I really had no clue that day that I was getting such an awesome guy. I was young, in love and ready to be his wife....but didn't fully comprehend all that he was. But over the last 9 years he has surprised me in the best possible way!

So, in keeping with tradition, here are 9 reasons I love my man!

9. If I've said it once, I have said it a thousand times (Hey Laurin, I used a saying :)!, Esteban is a total hottie! Who wouldn't love that guy?

8. He is my favorite person to spend time with. This year we were fortunate to have a sweet young lady live with us while she raised support to go on staff with Crusade. My favorite part of having some extra help was our weekly date nights. We never really did anything fancy, just dinner or coffee and some talking. I love those times the most!

7. He is an amazing father. He loves and delights in his girls. They are never a burden to him. He enjoys taking them places and doing things with them. He asks me to save Maya's word ladders (weekly homework) so that they can work on them together when he gets home. He is far from perfect, but he is such a sweet picture to them of God's love.

6. He is a great leader. Over the last few years, I have loved watching him really grow into this. He encourages and pushes those around him to be the people God has called them to be, and I love him for that.

5. He is soooooo good to me. He lets me go out with my girlfriends for coffee, lets me meet with college girls at all kinds of random times, and he helps around the house with absolutely no complaints. He gives me his free Starbucks drink cards, (This is a super important part of our marriage :) and lets me watch whatever show I want before he confiscates the remote. He even lets me choose the restaurants we go out to!

4.  He knows how messed up I am, but loves me anyway! Seriously...sometimes this is shocking to me, but I am SOOOOOOOO grateful!

3. He has the greatest family ever! His parents and brother and sister-in-law love Jesus with all of their hearts, and love one another in a way that I had never seen before. I am so thankful for their example of a Godly family, and could never communicate clearly enough how thankful I am for them. They have allowed me into that awesome family, and I am humbled and honored to be a Cevallos!

2.  He prays with my girls each morning. They pray for their day, the world, and whatever is laying heavy on their hearts. It isn't a big show, or anything fancy, just him, the girls and the Lord, talking through the day ahead. I love to come downstairs and find them praying together!

1.  He loves God way more than he loves me! He is a committed follower of Christ, and has the deep desire for others around him to be committed to following Christ as well. He is not sinless, and is daily in need of God's great grace, but he is humble, hard working and willing to admit his need for Christ. He inspires me to love God more, pray for the world more, and be more intentional about pouring into those around me.

So, there are my 9 reasons....come back next year for 10 more! 

and....Happy Anniversary Mr. Cevallos!