The Annie's of the World

Well, things have been crazy busy here! So, I am sorry I haven't updated this thing in a while. Jason & I just celebrated our 5th anniversary on August 4th! The past five years have been the most rewarding & joyful years of my life. God has truly blessed me with the man of my dreams. Because I was leaving for Georgia on our anniversary, we celebrated a day early. We did something really romantice, we went to the Franklin Institute (ha,ha). We are both very inquisitive people who love to learn & study new things, well not really, we just had fun pushing buttons & playing with all the inventions. Basically, it was like going to a Disney poduction on ice, because all the people there were families. And there was Jason & I celebrating our anniversary. We did have a lot of fun. That is what I love about our relationship is that we can have fun doing about anything, we can make watching paint dry a fun experience.

Afterwards we went to this park with the famous "LOVE" sign & Jason suprised me with our vows to read to one another. Which is something that we have done at every anniversary & he had these picture clues that was a puzzle for me to guess what he had gotten me. Well, after much guessing & some helpful hints from him, I figured out that he had gotten me a diamond band. You see, when we got married I didn't get the band I really wanted because we were poor college students. I am not a big bling person but I always told him that on our 5th I would love to have a diamond band. I more talked about it then really thinking I would get one. I am a practical person & at times a penny pincher. But my dear husband remembered this & had all along knew he would get me one. He didn't have it with him, but was going to take me to pick out the one I wanted. He said five diamonds for five years (how romantic). And for the past month I had been working hard & lacking on sleep from making my very first big scrapbook for him. It was memories of our time together. He loved it!

Then we walked to China town & ate at a Thai restaurant. The place was packed we almost didn't get a seat, not really it was just Jason & I. The food was awesome, I think Jason's was a little hot 'cause he started to sweat. As we began to walk the mile or so back to our car in the heavy heat, we both began to get really thirsty. As people started to pass by with cold drinks & ice cream, and our mouths were becoming more & more parched we just knew we had to stop & get a coolata at the Dunkin Donuts. Well, as we rounded the corner to enter the small shop a person who seemed to blend into the wall stopped to ask us for food or money. I continued to go in, but my loving husband stopped & told the person to come on in & he would get something to eat for them. I of course began to go about my business ordering my drink, while this person wide- eyed & smiling began to search the menu for probably the first meal of the day or days. I the realized that this was a person & thought it was rude to not carry on a conversation with this person. My eyes were taken aback as I looked at this person (who was a women, all along I thought it was a small fragile man). The women was in jeans, high tops, & had three sweat shirts on. I was in a halter top & sweating like a river. As I began to talk to her & look into her eyes & learn her name, I wondered what Jesus would have thought of her. How would he treat her? Then I thought of her mother. I am sure that she had probably experienced love through her life or maybe she had only had hate poured onto her. All I knew was that this simple act of buying her a meal was much more than just an act but Christ living through my husband. I didn't feel pity for her but rather I felt love for her. She had a smile as wide as the Savannah river. She thanked us & rushed out the door.

After Jason & I got our drinks & walked out the door I looked across the street & saw her sitting with others at a Salvation Army church eating her precious dinner, lunch, & breakfast. She looked up & that big smile crossed her face & she began to wave excitedly. In the crowded sidewalk we waved back & continued to walk no sipping our coolata's and go back to our own world. As the night went on & I picked out my beautiful diamond band, I wondered about her story & her future. God made her before time began & loves her deeply. I do pray that she will find freedom. I hope that I don't miss out on the Annie's (that as her name) of the world. I pray that I don't feel pity for them but give them love as Christ would & as my husband did on that hot summer day!