Golden! 12 years on April 12th

12 years ago today Kim and I walked down the aisle. In honor of that day and the fact that Kim said "I do" to me, here are 12 ways Kim has captured my heart:

1. Tenaciously Determined - everyday she never gives up on the little and big tasks that she finds herself working on - from house managing to kid teaching, team organizing to handicraft designing.

2. Wonder Filled - as she looks at God’s creation and consistently reminds me of its beauty and uniqueness.

3. Calling Driven - sticking it out in Indonesia when on many occasions, everything humanly speaking is saying, “Run away.”

4. Deeply Rooted - drives herself back to God with afternoons alone with him no matter what season of life she’s in. Very hard to do with four young kids.

5. Kingdom Building - loves the Kingdom of God and seeks to do her part to be His instrument to see it expand even if it means some days seem the path to fruitfulness seems littered with obstacles.

6. God Trusting - bright lights of bursting trust saying, “I believe God has a plan, even though I don’t see it.”

7. Culinarily Creative - I remember the days when we were first married and she fretted about how she was going to learn to cook. Now she’s compiled cook books, translated tons of recipes into Indonesian, and become widely known for her desserts (with another dessert waiting in the fridge right now).

8. Tenderly Loving - tears well up in her eyes when I tell her about my tough days. That’s how I know . . . she loves me.

9. Fervently Nurturing - cooking, cleaning, shopping, managing, organizing, doctoring, listening, teaching, reading, playing, creating, and doing it all over again the next day.

10. Eyes of beauty - both literally and figuratively. I could stare into her eyes for a long time and she can see and create works of beauty.

11. Humor Seeking - loves to laugh, to make me laugh, to make the kids laugh, to find humor in everyday life (and to hear her laugh makes my soul soar).

12. Melodiously enraptured - she insists on music to help take our hearts to places that we can’t get to.