Be a Little Childish

       I often think about children.. their freedom, their energy, their questions, their LIFE.. I love to hear their stories, their dreams, and their “what ifs”.. I love to see the twinkle in their innocent eyes and hear the giggles and whispers of their shared secrets, though nothing is a secret with a child. I often sit back and desire to be a child again. That happy and carefree. People often use the term “childish” as a negative thing, but I’m just not sure..

     As a kindergarten teacher, I spend most of my days with children. I teach them, I read to them, I talk with them, I discipline them, I play with them, I laugh with them, I love them, I listen to them, and mostly I learn from them. Every day I learn from them.

    I learn how to be a friend and get along with others I might not like. I learn how to forgive and treat someone like they never hurt me before.  I learn how to take life a little less serious and have a little more fun. I learn to always see the positive and the best in tough situations and in people. I learn how to laugh at the simplest things. I learn that it is alright to ask questions- how will you ever find out if you don’t ask. I learn that sometimes just a smile can make someone’s entire day and a hug an entire week. I learn that life must go on even when it’s hard. I learn that telling the truth may be difficult, but it’s always the best thing. I learn that it’s ok to sing loud and off key and dance off beat as long as you try and have fun doing it. I learn how to ask for help. I learn that sometimes all you need to do is stop and smell the flowers before you continue on your way. I learn that God designed each and every person on purpose for a purpose and we are meant to stand out and be different. I learn how to view people the same no matter their race, their religion, their income, or their disability. I learn that God can do anything and nothing is impossible. And mainly I learn how to love- truly love. Every day I learn how to be a little more like a child. So go ahead, call me childish. I’ll respond with a thank you.

            "While we try to teach children all about life, children teach us what life is all about."

Happy Anniversary!!

Almost every girl has always dreamed about their wedding day since they were little. Dreams of the beautiful white extravagant dress, to the bouquet of colorful flowers, to the formal gossemier and ribbons draped across the church pews, and even to the small intricate details of the guests’ dinner tables. Almost every woman can validate that they have wasted many hours pondering of their dream wedding and every detail in it, but for me that was just never the case. Don’t get me wrong, the idea of a wedding was always exciting to me, but not because of the gowns and the flowers and the ribbons and bows. No… I was excited for the groom! When I said I never pictured my wedding, it was a bit exaggerated. Often, even when I was younger, I would close my eyes and picture me standing at the altar of a church on my wedding day. I would see a man standing beside me, holding my hand and I could feel the excitement and love I already had for him, but I could never see his face, no matter how hard I tried. The older I became the more I desired to see the face of the man that stood beside me on one of the most life-changing days of my life, but I never could. I finally dealt with the issue that I was never going to see his face during my day dream moments, but that didn’t mean I didn’t have to stop thinking about him! I thought about him all the time! I tried to picture his personality, his family, his humor, his heart. I would pray that he was thinking and praying about me too. I would make lists of the characteristics that I would want this ideal man to have; a list that covered nearly two whole pages, a list that I felt was unrealistic: tall, dark, handsome, kind, good with kids, funny, gets along with my family, musical, can beatbox, adventurous, goes to church, and the most important one, loves God more than he loves me, the list went on and on. (Yes, I really did have a list, and yes can beat box was really on the list…) I would look over the lists I made and think to myself, that would be awesome, but wow I’m asking for a lot. I knew one thing for sure, that I had to marry a man that had a heart for God and for me and I suppose I could compromise the rest… As years went on the idea of compromising became easier as I felt my true desires were harder to find all in one package. Though, there was a tinge of disappointment I moved on and felt like “settling” was the way of the world and to think differently just seemed a bit selfish. But the spring of 2010, God showed me differently. God never wants us to settle or to compromise. He wants us to have the BEST! And that’s exactly what I got; the BEST.

I was amazed every day at Vaughn. Every day I would learn something new about him that I could “check off my list”. Of course the most important things were first: he is a Man of God, he is kind, he is funny, etc. But Vaughn is more than the “must haves” he checked my whole list, even the stupid trivial, “unnecessary” things. He is tall, dark, and handsome. He gets along great with kids, he plays the guitar, and yes he can even beatbox! He IS the whole package, THE best, and guess what: he was made for ME!

October 2^nd 2010, my day dreams were finally reality. My wedding day was finally here and that mystery faced groom was finally revealed. Even in reality, as I walked down the altar of my church, the flowers and colors and even the guests were a blur of “unimportance” at that time. My eyes and heart were focused on one thing; my groom. As I stood at the altar saying my vows and I do’s, I looked up at my groom with my hand in his and for once I finally got to see the face of my husband. In that moment, I knew my life was forever changed and was beyond blessed to be announced as Mrs. Vaughn Fahrenbruck. As we walked up the aisle hand in hand as husband and wife we faced our future..together as one. Blurry and uncertain, but blessed beyond compare.

It’s already been one year since we walked up that aisle into a new world together. It’s hard to believe. It truly has and will continue to be a blurry and uncertain future, but so exciting and rewarding. We have already experienced some tough times and shared some amazing times together in our short intertwined life and we know that we have a roller coaster life ahead of us, but one things for certain…we won’t settle because I now know that God wants the BEST for our life and the BEST is what we will have!

                   I love you Vaughn! Thanks for being the BEST for me and Happy first Anniversary!!