The Birthday Boy....
Today is my husband, Ryan's, birthday. He is 37 years old today.
There are many things I could tell you about such a wonderful man. Let's see...where to start?
I guess I should start from the beginning. I was a shy girl in school. Mostly, I only ever hung out with the people I knew and hardly ever talked to anyone I didn't know or wasn't friends with. I spent most of my middle school and high school years keeping to myself and just "getting through" my classes so I could go home and get stuff done so I could hang out with my friends. About half way through my 10th grade year I had my hair cut into a cute little short bob...possibly the first time I ever caught anyone's eye because it was a very mature look for me by that time. Anyway, I caught the eye of a certain young man in my Spanish class. Yep, you guessed it, his name was Ryan Tucker. A tall, dark-haired, varsity soccer player who I honestly never took notice of (because, like I said earlier, I barely even had the courage or desire to branch out from my norm). He sat two rows over from me and began trying to get my attention by throwing little pieces of paper at me. I guess I thought maybe he had made a mistake and was trying to get the attention of the girl in front of me because she was more popular and, in my opinion, a lot prettier than me. I found out later that Ryan had been to my church with one of his friends and he was asking lots of questions about me and wanting to ask me out, but his friends kept telling him "Na, man. You don't wanna date her." I sure am glad he didn't listen to them.
Ryan didn't come to school for like a week or two after we started sorta "talking" because he had gotten the chicken pox. He used this as an "excuse" to call me for the first time. My last name was Estes at the time and there weren't very many of those in Nederland so he picked up the phone and dialed at least 2 of the numbers he could find in the phone book till he got me on the phone (gosh...remember phone books? Or landline, corded phones?!!? Geez...). We talked on the phone for a good long time. His opener? "What did we do in Spanish class?" Well, nothing...lol. We never did anything in that class..lol. When he finally got back to school we probably only had a couple of weeks of school left so we would just sit and have free time. The two of us sat and talked and found out a lot about each other. He always likes to mention that the first time he asked me to be his girlfriend I said, "Ask me later..." This is a fact, and I'm ashamed to say that I DID say that. He did, in fact, ask me later and I said, obviously, "Yes".
We went on to many other really fantastically fun times together. One really vivid memory I have is at Centrifuge (the same year as we began dating). It was our first year to go to church camp together. He walked me back to my dorm after service and we stopped to talk a little before I walked in for the night. We were standing under this cyprus tree and it was sprinkling a little bit (because it rained A LOT in Glorietta) and he looked at me and said, "I know we haven't been dating for very long, but I know that I love you and I know that we are going to be together for a long time." Right there, right then....that's when I knew I would marry this boy. That's the moment I knew I loved him.
Our years together have been wonderful to say the least. I mean, we've been through A LOT. More than many other couples? Well, no, but it's been such a wonderful time. I mean, after we graduated high school his parents followed after God's calling to a church in Montana and Ryan stayed with me. He did eventually move away to be with his family and start college. We stayed separated for 9 months of that year. It was a hard time, but definitely part of God's plan for us. We grew closer to Him and, therefore, closer to each other. Marriage, children, ministry, moving....it has all tested us. God has sculpted us and refined us and each time He passes us through the fires a little more impurity rises to the surface of our relationship and we draw closer to each other.
Well, I want to end this whole post by telling you that 21 years of knowing Ryan have been some of the best years of my life. I thank God that He allowed me to meet my life-partner at such a young age. I couldn't imagine meeting Him any later in life than I did.
Happy Birthday, sweet love of my life. Thank you for always being there to love me and to be that Spiritual Leader of our family. Besides meeting Jesus, you're the best thing that's ever happened to me.
I love you, Ryan.
There are many things I could tell you about such a wonderful man. Let's see...where to start?
I guess I should start from the beginning. I was a shy girl in school. Mostly, I only ever hung out with the people I knew and hardly ever talked to anyone I didn't know or wasn't friends with. I spent most of my middle school and high school years keeping to myself and just "getting through" my classes so I could go home and get stuff done so I could hang out with my friends. About half way through my 10th grade year I had my hair cut into a cute little short bob...possibly the first time I ever caught anyone's eye because it was a very mature look for me by that time. Anyway, I caught the eye of a certain young man in my Spanish class. Yep, you guessed it, his name was Ryan Tucker. A tall, dark-haired, varsity soccer player who I honestly never took notice of (because, like I said earlier, I barely even had the courage or desire to branch out from my norm). He sat two rows over from me and began trying to get my attention by throwing little pieces of paper at me. I guess I thought maybe he had made a mistake and was trying to get the attention of the girl in front of me because she was more popular and, in my opinion, a lot prettier than me. I found out later that Ryan had been to my church with one of his friends and he was asking lots of questions about me and wanting to ask me out, but his friends kept telling him "Na, man. You don't wanna date her." I sure am glad he didn't listen to them.
Ryan didn't come to school for like a week or two after we started sorta "talking" because he had gotten the chicken pox. He used this as an "excuse" to call me for the first time. My last name was Estes at the time and there weren't very many of those in Nederland so he picked up the phone and dialed at least 2 of the numbers he could find in the phone book till he got me on the phone (gosh...remember phone books? Or landline, corded phones?!!? Geez...). We talked on the phone for a good long time. His opener? "What did we do in Spanish class?" Well, nothing...lol. We never did anything in that class..lol. When he finally got back to school we probably only had a couple of weeks of school left so we would just sit and have free time. The two of us sat and talked and found out a lot about each other. He always likes to mention that the first time he asked me to be his girlfriend I said, "Ask me later..." This is a fact, and I'm ashamed to say that I DID say that. He did, in fact, ask me later and I said, obviously, "Yes".
We went on to many other really fantastically fun times together. One really vivid memory I have is at Centrifuge (the same year as we began dating). It was our first year to go to church camp together. He walked me back to my dorm after service and we stopped to talk a little before I walked in for the night. We were standing under this cyprus tree and it was sprinkling a little bit (because it rained A LOT in Glorietta) and he looked at me and said, "I know we haven't been dating for very long, but I know that I love you and I know that we are going to be together for a long time." Right there, right then....that's when I knew I would marry this boy. That's the moment I knew I loved him.
Our years together have been wonderful to say the least. I mean, we've been through A LOT. More than many other couples? Well, no, but it's been such a wonderful time. I mean, after we graduated high school his parents followed after God's calling to a church in Montana and Ryan stayed with me. He did eventually move away to be with his family and start college. We stayed separated for 9 months of that year. It was a hard time, but definitely part of God's plan for us. We grew closer to Him and, therefore, closer to each other. Marriage, children, ministry, moving....it has all tested us. God has sculpted us and refined us and each time He passes us through the fires a little more impurity rises to the surface of our relationship and we draw closer to each other.
Well, I want to end this whole post by telling you that 21 years of knowing Ryan have been some of the best years of my life. I thank God that He allowed me to meet my life-partner at such a young age. I couldn't imagine meeting Him any later in life than I did.
Happy Birthday, sweet love of my life. Thank you for always being there to love me and to be that Spiritual Leader of our family. Besides meeting Jesus, you're the best thing that's ever happened to me.
I love you, Ryan.
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