Hinds Feet on High Places

16 Years of Marriage...32 Years of History!

Tomorrow my dear husband Shawn and I will be marking our 16th wedding anniversary. I would like to share some of the milestones we passed along the way. We grew up within two miles of one another...his family began attending the church where my father was pastor when we were both around 5 years of age.

     Shawn and his beloved grandfather                        Me and my beloved puppy

We didn't play together much or anything back then, just were in the same Sunday School class. Years later we both revealed we viewed one another as potential marriage partners from an early age. We began developing a friendship at youth outings as young teens, and he went on to college at Penn State studying agriculture while I worked as a waitress and completed  an intensive one-year nursing program. On November 10, 1990 and at the age of 21, we were finally married after what seemed like endless years of waiting...my dad performed the ceremonies.

In August of the following year, we "just up and moved" to Tennessee. We bought some acreage and began plans to build a log home...from scratch, with no help...in the meantime, Shawn put together a shack for shelter, which we used for about 6 months. That was an adventure to say the least! For  two years we had no running water or electricity...we agree it was all worth it in the end...

He then ordered poplar beams from a local mill and began constructing our log home...this was an amazing feat which still impresses me. I am so thankful he was not injured while hoisting those 22' beams up there with his own hands. Shawn has ambition to beat the band, and raw muscle power to go with it!  Never ceases to amaze me...  That was a hot summer.

                         While in Tennessee we had two babies, Elizabeth and Roy.

 Soon after that we got homesick and headed back to Pennsylvania. We sold the improved property and roughed-in cabin. We moved to Berks County and were introduced to the Reading Birth and Women's Center while expecting our third baby, Rachel...                                               

 Almost a year later we purchased our first home, a 125-year old log home in Lancaster County, PA. That was sort of an investment property, as it needed a lot of work and housing was expensive there. So with little resources and a lot of will, we spent the next 10 years there, building our family and filling that home till it was bursting at the seams. Fast forward here without pictures...Baby number 9 was due to be born two months before we moved. Shawn's work opportunities were blessed and we were finally able to get things finished up there and purchase a farmhouse and acreage in Tioga Co., PA, about 150 miles north of Lancaster. We spent 2 years worth of weekends making the 3 hour trip (one way) to rennovate this home...it was priced miraculously low and suited just to our needs. We were so thrilled with everything about our new home and surrounding countryside that we couldn't believe it was real. God had blessed us beyond our wildest dreams. We were thrilled to have our own homestead, room to grow, hunt, work, and play. We could have as many gardens as we wanted and there was plenty of room for animals. Finally in May of 2004 we sold our log home and relocated to the hills of northern PA. Every day we thank God for allowing us to live

in this beautiful corner of the world.

                                       HE GIVES HIS LIFE TO ME!!!

 God has blessed us with a love that grows deeper each year. It has not always been easy, and we have been through a lot together, as any growing, living marriage. We feel we have reached a new level in our relationship, for which we are very thankful. My husband is so very loving and good to me. I am so blessed to have him as my very own, and words cannot express how much I feel for him. Shawn is a diligent worker and faithful spouse. He has always been a very hard worker and provided us with the best he could give. Spending time with us is a priority with him, and we enjoy many good times together. He loves the outdoors and has taught me and our older ones to hunt deer and trap fur-bearing animals. He has done his best to fulfill my dreams, such as having our own dairy goats and using the milk to make soap to sell. Tough, yet gentle and self-sacrificing; loving and sensitive, yet strong and unmovable, he is very flexible and knows how to relate well to others. He has wonderful leadership qualities, always working to keep things from getting stagnant or dull...always rich in experience with a full sense of adventure. He is a great man full of dreams and plans of ways to make a better life for his family and our future together. Our relationship is very important to him, and he has cultivated it very loving and tenderly, and I do so love that about him. Most of all I appreciate his humility to learn from and submit to the Lord's leading in his life. Together we wait on the Lord for direction. We live as the best of friends and still miss one another when we are apart. Here is our family today! What a wonderful blessing from God to be given all these precious children.               

From the back left: Jessica (9), Rachel (12), Elizabeth (14), Melissa (10), Shawn, Levi (8 mos), Annette (me), Caleb (5), Isaak (6), Roy (13), Owen (4), and Reagan (2).

                  PRAISE THE LORD FOR ALL HIS GOODNESS!

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10:17, 2006-Nov-9 .. Posted by borderling

That was great! Happy anniversary.

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10:35, 2006-Nov-9 .. Posted by j706nancyr

What a wonderful history you have together! Congrats on the upcoming anniversary, and finding your wonderful homeplace!
Good luck in your future!
Nancy

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01:23, 2006-Nov-9 .. Posted by mc2rwe

Annette, as usual, the way that you have written is just absolutely beautiful. God is great and greatly to be praised. Your family is blessed to have you!

Kathy