Effortless Beauty

Emily is an amazing woman.

What you see here is the culmination, the celebration, of all that she has accomplished this year. It is easy to say that I am unbelievably proud of my wife.

But there's a lot that you don't see here...

What you don't see is her incredible focus and energy...

Her battling through morning (heck, all-day) sickness for the past few weeks...

Her cramming in studying, lectures and paper-writing in the briefest of moments when Owen takes a nap...

Her internship at the International Rescue Committee that earned her accolades...

Her excellent papers...

Her constant and consistent growth spiritually...

Her unflagging prayer...

Her patient love for Owen and me...

Her never-complaining, never-flagging, never-quitting attitude...

And beyond a little eye-tick, she's no worse for wear!

Emily, her name means "industrious"

If you ask her, she hasn't always been a big fan of this (the meaning, she likes her name)

But if you look at this past year, it's easy to see how appropriate this really is.

Today, I found a better meaning for Emily:

To strive or excel

Of all the people I know in this life, Emily exemplifies this. And the thing about Emily is that she makes all this excellence look effortless. To this day, I still don't know how she does it.

Even though we've been married for nearly 10 years now, she never ceases to amaze me or show me something new about herself. I am so incredibly thankful that God gave her to me.

The Bible actually wrote about Emily... check it out!

I love you, Emily, and I'm so proud of you!