11 years later

As hard as it might be to read....and to write...I feel the NEED to take this time to commemorate this day. Eleven years ago today, all the planning and waiting came to and end as Brad and I got married. I changed my name from Reese to Thornsbrough, and never looked back. Someone recently called the past 15 years a "learning experience." But to me, the years have been much more than that. While I believe God can intervene at any time, there is a possibility that this is our last anniversary. However circumstances that God allows could make that true for anybody's marriage, so I am certainly not unique. I am learning to appreciate what God allows in life each day, and to try to learn from it. I don't always make the right choices, or react correctly in each situation. However, I do not regret having loved. Here is an excerpt from a blog entry of mine last fall. I was reminded of it tonight while I was looking for the right pictures to post. I repost it here for you.

Pain doesn't kill
I started reading "Feathers from My Nest" by Beth Moore. I love Beth Moore. I can always hear her southern accent speaking when I read her books, and it is soothing. I bought this book a few years ago when I attended a conference where she spoke. I am just starting it again, and I thought it would be a bit lighter that my last book. I guess not. I read this last night, when I was having a "painful moment." Thankfully, today hasn't been like that.

"I have learned that pain doesn't kill...I threw my hands over my heart and fought like a Trojan not to give way to it. God gently pulled my hands away and said, 'My child, go ahead and feel it. The pain will not kill you. It will be a reminder that you are very much alive, engaged, and that you loved with abandon. That was your primary assignment. Your present pain proved you did it.' It was at this moment God spoke a transforming truth into my life: The goal of life is not the absence of pain. It's the presence of glory. God's glory. And sometimes that comes most vividly with pain. Not only have I learned that pain doesn't kill; I have learned that I will never lose or be betrayed by the one thing with absolute power to destroy me-God Himself." So, anyway, here are a few pictures of our wedding day..enjoy looking, I know that I have!

 

 

Our Wedding Song
George Strait I Cross My Heart
Our love is unconditional
We knew it from the start
I can see it in your eyes
You can feel it from my heart>From here on after
Let's stay the way we are right now
And share all the love and laughter
That a lifetime will allow

Chorus:
I cross my heart
And promise to
Give all I've got to give
To make all your dreams come true
In all the world
You'll never find
A love as true as mine



You will always be the miracle
That makes my life complete
And as long as there's a breath in me
I'll make yours just as sweet
As we look into the future
It's as far as we can see
So let's make each tomorrow
Be the best that it can be

Chorus

And if along the way we find a day
It starts to storm
You've got the promise of my love
To keep you warm