I hope & trust this email finds you all having a great day on this absolutely beautiful Saturday morning.
A couple of things on my heart I want to share with you this morning:
1. So yesterday my Beautiful Bride and I celebrated our 27th wedding anniversary. We have known each other since she was 15 and I was 16-years old and together, KNK, since she was 16 and I was 17-years old. It is overwhelming to think of how richly God has blessed my life with her, how richly He has blessed our life together and how grateful I am, to the depths of my soul, for each and every one of these blessings.
You know, life is funny. When we were dating and then married at a very young age, I thought I had all the answers, that I had it all figured out. I was so clueless!!! I had no idea the incredible responsibility that came with the honor & privilege of being a husband...this must be why God gave me the sweetest, gentlest, kindest spirit I have ever met to be my girl. She intentionally overlooked by numerous faults & failures and instead continued to shine her bright light on the greatness she saw in me. Over time she & God helped me understand, and then inspired me, to strive for this greatness. It has not been a smooth, flat highway...think zig zagging through a cornfield on a 35% grade - that is what my path looks like.
In our life together we have experienced great highs and debilitating lows. We have experienced the great joy of welcoming 3 beautiful babies into this world and the great sorrow of losing one before it entered it. We have been blessed by having so many incredible friends come into our lives, people that we are privileged to do life with to this day, and we have been hurt by some folks whose intentions were less than pure. We have had the privilege of serving coaches, student-athletes, people from all walks of life - to encourage, empower & equip them to be the very best they are capable of becoming. We have celebrated their successes with them and shared in the sorrows. We have been blessed to swim together in the Pacific, Atlantic & Gulf Coast oceans, to be in most every small college football stadium in the Western United States, to be in some pretty big one's too - Sun Devil Stadium, Sanford Stadium at the University of Georgia (a childhood dream of mine fulfilled) and the Metrodome in Minneapolis (the sight of one of my greatest professional disappointments - we lost the game, and missed out on the playoffs, by 16 seconds). We were together when we said our last goodbye's to my Mom & Dad. We have lived in New Mexico, Nebraska, Arizona, Kansas, Illinois & Texas. There are great friends, great memories, in each place.
The thing is, we have always been together. I once heard it said about the great former basketball coach at the University of Arizona (as a Sun Devil that was painful to type!), Lute Olson that when his wife Bobbi was with him he was completely different - calm, relaxed, confident. I totally get that! When Kathy is with me, no matter the situation or circumstance, everything is going to be just fine. And while I am talking mostly of physical presence here, as we have gotten older we both recognize the mental, emotional, spiritual connection as well. When we are on the same page, we can handle anything...with God's help. Still, 3 of the greatest feelings in the world are, 1) her soft kiss on my cheek and feeling her breath on my face as I fall asleep, 2) her gently touching the inside of my arm as we are walking through a store and 3) her sliding her hand into mine as we walk anywhere.
People often say "you guys are so lucky. You are perfect for each other." I would say yes & no. I do truly believe that God gave us to one another. If I truly believe this then I must also believe that he didn't bring us together to tear us apart. In that sense, yes, we are perfect for each other. The no part however is the part where folks assume that we just found each other and life was great...not even a fraction of that misguided belief is true. There have been many intentional decisions on both our parts to stop fighting against each other and to fight for each other...and there has been a lot of fighting! :) When we were young, and I was stupid, I would say something like, "well maybe we should just get divorced." It wasn't until God enlightened me to how stupid that comment was for me to make, until I realized the great damage it was doing every time I made it and until I made the determination in my heart and then verbalized it to Kathy that I didn't care what happened in this life, I was not going to stop fighting for her, our marriage and our family until I breathe my last breath that things really started to change. She can be mad at me, not like me, I don't care. I will not stop fighting for her, for our marriage, our family! I won't! She may not be perfect to you however God entrusted me with her! I am, one day, going to have to stand before Him and give an account for how I loved her. I am not perfect, or even close. And I don't think God or Kath expect me to be. I can honestly say that I do seek God every day, I pray every day that He will lead me, that He will lead my Beautiful Bride through me and then I strive every day to do the very best I can. It doesn't just happen, it is an intentional choice, and a profound commitment.
As always is the case when I think & talk about this beautiful woman, I got all fired up and lost in the moment. Sorry, this isn't even what this Happy Friday was going to be about! I say all this to say:
Happy Anniversary Kathy! I love, value, cherish & adore you. You bless my life so richly and I am so very grateful for you!
2. Earlier this week I saw a simple little quote that struck me profoundly:
"Every day you have the opportunity to encourage someone." - Unknown
Isn't that so simple? Isn't it so true? Every day you and I are going to encounter someone that we can encourage. They might be in our own home, they might be in the store or we might pass them on the street. The thing is, the opportunity IS going to be there. The only thing we have to decide is if we will take the opportunity. Clearly, this is my hope & challenge for us today - whoever they are, wherever they are, WHEN we are given the opportunity to encourage another today we will take it.
Please don't hesitate to contact me at any time if there is ever anything I can do for you or your family. I will always help you any way I can. You can reach me at kevin@whatwillyourinfluencebe.com.
Have a great day, a wonderful weekend and please cherish your precious families.
Kev
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