Yesterday, I came home to find a note on the door from my wife…

“Please read the entire note before entering the house…..Happy Anniversary!!”

The note had some instructions on it that I was to follow carefully and precisely. After completing one set of instructions, I found another note with another set of instructions, then another. Meanwhile, the house was eerily quiet.

I followed each set of instructions, with the last being that I had to put on my favorite music (I chose Bryan Adam’s Everything I Do, I do it for You) and wait in the living room. By this time, of course, I’m dying with curiosity.

The music plays and into the living room comes Sarah, dressed very beautifully and elegantly and quite proud of herself for pulling off this surprise. She told me that a friend of ours is keeping our kiddos ALL NIGHT. But that’s not all.

We hop in the van and drove…and drove…and all the time I’m trying rather unsuccessfully to figure out where in the world we were going. It’s not until we pulled into a parking lot that she divulged her long kept and long-planned secret. We were going to go on a romantic 2-hour dinner cruise on Smith Mountain Lake aboard the Virginia Dare.

It was a very lovely cruise. The food was delicious. The night was a little chilly and windy. But being with Sarah was the best part of all. We talked and talked, went up to the deck of the boat and talked some more, just enjoying being with each other. We talked about the past year, the highlights and struggles of the year, and about our family. With all the chaos of vacationing (doesn’t that seem like an oxymoron?) and other stuff, it was good to just relax and reconnect with one another. This past year has definitely had its ups and downs, but God has been faithful in strengthening us and using these ups and downs to bring us closer together.

And now, here it is Saturday morning. We both were quite lazy this morning and slept in perhaps later than we have in a loooong time (or at least, in about 2 years or so ;) ). We’re going to go see the movie Fireproof, which I’ve heard is supposed to be really good, get some lunch and then go pick up the kiddos. It’s been a wonderful weekend so far. (Sarah will probably have pictures soon on her blog.

Thank you, Sarah, for a wonderful anniversary surprise! I eagerly look forward to Lord willing many more years being married to you. I love you “a little more than yesterday and a little less than tomorrow – always and only yours!”

[If anyone is looking for something out of the ordinary to do, I would definitely recommend taking a dinner cruise on the Virginia Dare - not necessarily for the food (although it was good), but rather for the ambiance and the experience.]