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As we ended 2008 and began 2009, I was with 3 of the closest friends I have in my life: Rachel my wife,& her parents- Wayne and Marie.  This vacation has been so refreshing at their home…w/ all the feel& hospitality of a winter wonderland bed and breakfast.  As we ended 2008 sledding, skating, and travelling as a family, I can’t remember ever being happier. 

Growing up in a divorced family, I would look for mini glimpses into examples of Christians couples old enough to be my parents.  I would get snapshots here and there, but on 4-25-04, I became part of  the portrait of my dreams when they welcome me to their family when I married their oldest daughter.  I fly out of here in 2 hours, & this is probably the toughest it’s ever been to leave their two story wintry casa here in Des Moines, Iowa.

I always felt there was this perfect ideal of a Christian family out there.  The reason I never found one is because the ideal for every single person doesn’t really exist.  Wayne and Marie have been the perfect ideal for me though.  Everythings not easy, or 100% sane, but they have a love for each other that has prevailed after they first married over 30 years ago.  Marie is quite possibly the funnest and funniest person I know.  Wayne is the most proud dad I ever met.  When we came home this time, we found baskets of food, a fridge packed, and pictures of me and Rachel all over the house (sharing some space with her sister Sarah and her husband Joe of course).  

This is a place where I feel treasured, valued, and celebrated.  I’ve been reading TD Jakes book, ” He-motions “, and I’m beginning to understand what he meant by saying ‘find the king within the kid’.   I find the king inside me when I’m here, but have fun like a kid who’s playing in the snow for the first time. 

Wayne and Marie- thank you so much for loving me and accepting me as a son.  The day you said I could marry your daughter was the sweetest yes I’d ever heard in my life, only to be rivaled (and passed just a little) by the yes I got from her a week later.  Every time we’re together, I feel and experience that ‘Yes’ over and over again.   You are a gift from God that sometimes I feel was made just for me.   Thank you so much.  love- John