Happy Anniversary and Mother's Day

This is a post from Peter - for a change. Today is not just the day I celebrate my loving mother and my wonderful wife Janna, but it's also our 6-year anniversary! A LOT has changed in 6 years.

Before I married Janna I saw in her the desire and potential to be a wonderful mother. That set her apart from so many other girls I knew and dated. For our first date I took her hiking. We had an excellent conversation about living our faith in our families. From that conversation, I knew that she cared deeply about her family responsibilities at the time and in the future. Before we married I remember looking up into her eyes and "shadowing forth" the way that our children would look at her. I was deeply moved.

A lot has changed in the last 6 years: school, jobs, kids, house, moving 4 times etc. As children have come into our family and into our home, significant changes have occurred, but her desire to be a great wife and mother has not. I think too much of myself - my own wants and needs - and often lose sight of what is most important. Janna, on the other hand, doesn't have time to lose sight of what is important. She spends her days being a full-time mother and a full-time wife.

I get a paycheck for my job every two weeks, and the surgeons with whom I work thank me daily for the service I am paid to give. Janna gets "paychecks" infrequently. She received a kind word here and a kind deed there amongst scores of struggles with the kids, dirty diapers and things to take care - both expected and (often) unexpected. I hope I thank her enough, but I know I fall short. I hope this can be a small tribute for the wonderful life she gives me. Her good desires for her family, friends and the youth whom she serves are near perfect.

Thank you Janna. I love you.