Celebrating Eight

This weekend Chris and I celebrated eight years of marriage! We had such a great 24hrs to ourselves at the Westin in Scottsdale! I grow more and more in love with this man with each passing year. His love, passion, devotion to the Lord & family, the way he can turn my tears into laughter and always knows just what to say to encourage my heart are a few reasons why. Life is better because I have him to enjoy it with! It's hard to think of a day where there was no Chris & Tara and we were two separate people living life. I like to look back to when it all began and well for one I feel a little old and remembering our beginnings always makes me laugh.

Chris and I met in a singles group at a church over nine years ago. I was Tara the keyboard player, singer, feisty girl and he was Chris, worship leader, guitar player, stubborn boy. We both helped start up the singles ministry and I so graciously followed Chris' leading of the band each week... right guys? It seemed pretty much evident to all who knew us that we were "meant to be" but one us of needed a little more convincing than the other. And well since this is my blog I can tell the story my way! (see love another reason you should start your own blog) We were a close knit group of friends/staff and after some talks with my friends it was decided that Chris & I would be perfect for each other. Bad idea. (single girls don't get together and talk about who would be perfect for each other... not helpful) Well it's not like I really needed any help. My heart was already being drawn toward this caring, funny, Godly guy.

He would call me to let me know when band practice was and what could've been a 5 minute phone call turned into a couple of hours. Our friendship keep growing and growing and the pressure to be a couple continued. This lead into a phone call from Chris clarifying that we were "just friends" and I should ignore our friends pressure as we will always be "just friends". "Always?", I asked. "Always", he replied. I was a little heartbroken but decided that I wouldn't let it bother me and that I didn't like Chris that way after all. That was the feisty part in me, "fine I don't like you either!" or maybe immature:-)

For Chris this didn't exactly mean we'd stop being friends like we were. Our deep conversations stayed the same and our friendship continued. After a few months I couldn't deny that my heart was drawn towards this man and there was simply nothing I could do but pray. After about six months from the "just in case your wondering I don't like you" phone call. Chris was at my door. After a conversation with my dad he was wondering if I would be willing to take our ever growing friendship to the next level. "It's about time you asked!" was my response. I was thrilled and excited and all the other adjectives that describes a girl falling in love. What changed for Chris you might ask? He would say that in visiting some friends in Chicago he was up late one night missing me. And he couldn't figure out why he would miss me if I was truly just a friend. The Lord used this to show Chris that the girl he was waiting for was right in front of him the whole time. So after six weeks of dating we were engaged to be married!! A pace we don't exactly recommend to the singles in our life but in our situation the friendship was already built solid so there wasn't much else left to figure out before we got engaged.

It is so fun to look back and see how God continues to take our marriage to new levels. He has faithfully lead us through hard and trying times, through unclear times, through joyful times, all the while strengthening our relationship with each other and the Lord. Thank you Chris for being the greatest gift (next to salvation) in my life! I love you.