David and Jennilyn

From the beginning of our relationship, we’ve both enjoyed learning from others what makes a marriage great. It is important to both of us that, not only do we avoid the alarming statistic of divorces, but cultivate a relationship that grows stronger with time.

There have been many books we’ve harvested wisdom, ideas, and laughter from. Some of our favorites are:

• The Holy Bible: God’s design for marriage is beautiful, strong, powerful, and amazing.
• The Five Love Languages: Insights on how to love someone in a way that communicates love. We’re thankful that both our primary love languages are quality time.
• Love & Respect: Most husbands know that their wives love them, but they need something just as much—respect. Without both these elements, a couple can get on a crazy cycle where the husband doesn’t feel respected, so he does not love, and the wife does not respect the husband because she does not feel loved.
• Every Woman’s Desire: A man’s guide to understanding biblical authority in a husband/wife relationship as well as keeping the purity of the husband’s heart.
• Your Money Counts: Money is often a source of marital problems, so we made a commitment to understand how to handle finances God’s way to help us make money a tool in our marriage rather than a stumbling block.

By no means are we experts or perfect in our marriage (every aspect is a work in progress), but these books have saved us from unnecessary heartaches and arguments as well as giving us tools to overcome obstacles and challenges together.

We had a mini-vacation this weekend to go out dancing. Jenni’s parents were gracious enough to house us so that our daughters can sleep while we went to late night dancing—two nights in a row. It was so nice to see friends out on the dance floor and reminisce about our dating and dancing days.

Portland Dance Festival was Jenni and my kick-off dance that started our attraction. We had a great night of dancing together which ended with a dip and I found myself staring into her eyes. It was magic.

When Jenni and I returned from test driving a black minivan earlier this week, Kadie requested that our next vehicle be colored red. I told her that we don’t get a choice in the color since we were buying an used minivan. Funny how and when God gives good gifts to little ones, even something as small as color because now we own a red 2010 Kia Sedona.

We’re excited to be able to have passengers other than just our kids. And now we’ll have room for all the stuff for three little kids, a mom who carries along her own toaster oven for homemade, gluten-soy-dairy-and-egg-free waffles, and a dad lugging camera gear, computers, and gadgets.

When I married Jennilyn, I was also blessed to inherit a large family to love me. It has been important to us that we stayed near and involved with our parents, siblings, and extended families. Having their support gives us strength, hope, and courage for any challenge we face.

The beach is the background of many of our memories. We visit the beach as frequent as possible because it is one of Jennilyn’s favorite places and it provides negative ions that creates positive vibes. We fell asleep on a hillside of Cannon beach on Jennilyn’s birthday and I got a V-shaped sunburn from my Hawaiian shirt collar. We celebrated our honeymoon on the beaches of Maui. Our fifth anniversary at Seaside was a nice getaway, even though we had baby Violet on board. The sandcastle competition at Cannon beach was amazing five years ago. I’m thankful that the beach is only an hour away, so we can enjoy it easily as a day trip.

Quick Facts:

• The due date is December 6th.
• No, the pregnancy wasn’t exactly planned.
• Yes, we are waiting until the baby is born to find out if we have a son or daughter.

Beaverton Foursquare Church is our home church and where we committed our lives to each other before God. We’re very thankful for the bible studies, financial courses, wise preachers, great friends, amazing children ministries, and an energetic worship team.

I’m thankful Jenni indulges in my short-term obsessions with equal or more firepower.