Today is our 24th anniversary. I remember how we chose our wedding date. Jeff proposed in January of my senior year of college, which in retrospect seems ludicrously young. (Of course I only now realize this because I have a 20-year-old). We called my home church and inquired about what dates were available for the summer.

The only options were August 24th or 31st. Because our jobs require us to be on campus during new student move-in, August 24th would be the only option, and even then we’d have to cut our honeymoon a bit short.

24 years go by in the blink of an eye, as they say. It would take a book to encapsulate a near quarter-century of memories, so instead I’ll choose some photos to share some of the happier parts of these 24 years.

8.24.2002, Ward Church, Northville, MI

From here, we’ll have to jump ahead to the first digital photo of us uploaded to Facebook…

2005, pregnant with Emma, but still glowing at the wedding of our friends.

2006, baptizing Emma at our beloved Knox Presbyterian, the church that cared for us as college students and young adults.

2007, Our Christmas card photo at the gazebo in my hometown, Northville, MI on on perfect Michigan fall day.

2008, Cedar Campus in Cedarville, MI for Chapter Camp week with Northwestern students. Emma had fallen into the bay while “feeding it sand” that week.

2009, 2.5 months postpartum from a C-section, not quite ready to move across the country in a week, in Chicago Chinatown with my cousin and sister for a sendoff on a hot July day.

2010, a beautiful beach day in Santa Monica with our former small group friends the Akins, visiting from Wisconsin.

2011, My brother’s wedding in Plymouth, MI. The kids’ first time as flower girl and ring bearer. Later that same year, our first trip together outside the continent, to Provence, France for Jon’s wedding to Dotty, which Jeff officiated.

2012, My sister’s wedding in Beaver Creek, CO. Jeff officiated, I was maid of honor, and the kids had their second tour as flower girl and ring bearer. Jesse had hit his head full speed into a metal pole just before walking down the aisle. I was training for a half-marathon, so at least my skin was glowing. I’m not sure what happened to Emma when the camera clicked, but we always found this a funny picture.

2013, Jeff baptized his dad at the Easter service at Lake Avenue Church, and then we went out with family to Chang’s Garden in Arcadia, CA

2014, My graduation from Fuller with a Masters in Theology.

2015, Jeff served on my team with these esteemed friends when I taught scripture at Urbana 2015.

2016, We made it to Taiwan with Jeff’s parents and visited with Jeff’s friend from college, Jon.

2017, Emma was promoted from Field Elementary just before I left for my first Regional Staff Conference as GFM West Regional Director. Jeff graduated with his PhD a week later.

2018, Our dear friend Lisa graduated and had an amazing grad party complete with a mechanical bull. We left straight from her party on a road trip to spend 3 weeks in Michigan.

2019, We needed a new photo for our prayer letters because Jeff had returned to InterVarsity as the National Director of Theological Formation, a perfect job for him!

2020, For my 40th birthday, we rode in an RV all around beautiful Calfornia without many places we could stop due to the height of COVID-19.

2021, Still the pandemic, Jeff officiated the wedding of some of our dearest friends, Melody and Jonathan Ofili, in a front yard.

2022, One of the more difficult years in our life and family, but we made it to CDMX to celebrate our 20th.

2023, Jesse’s Sierra Madre Middle School graduation at Pasadena High School.

2024, Emma’s graduation and party at Auntie Bev and Uncle Mo’s house.

January 1, 2025, University of Oregon vs. Ohio State University

2026, Dearborn, MI, for our flower girl and my cousin Julia’s wedding!

It’s clear from these photos that our looks were hit or miss — some bad hair, plus glasses and clothing choices that didn’t stand the test of time. Of course, our pants sizes fluctuated, sometimes up and sometimes down. But here we are. We made it another year. Even when it’s been hard, confusing, or exhausting, we’ve kept going. It’s also a good reminder that there has been something to celebrate in every one of these 24 years.

I’m proud of us. Cheers to 24!