Blessed by my wife

My Baby Girl Jolene and I are celebrating our 21st wedding anniversary today. Fittingly, according to the website anniversaryideas.co.uk, there are "no traditional materials or symbols" associated with a 21st wedding anniversary.

That's us, for the most part; not necessarily traditional.

Now the website also noted that the gift themes for the 21st anniversary are items made of nickel and brass, and the gemstone is iolite. That fits us, too. Pretty random.

By the way, what in the world is iolite?

We've enjoyed a wonderful life together, enhanced greatly when we adopted Joel. Like so many other couples, we haven't always had a lot in the way of material things, but that hasn't mattered. God has always provided for our needs and we are thankful for all that the Lord has given us, both spiritual and material blessings.

In typical Andrew and Jolene fashion, we celebrated today by enjoying each other's company during a quiet lunch at her favorite restaurant, The Olive Garden. It was nice.

In many ways, we are complete opposites. She grew up on a farm; I grew up in the 'burbs. She's quiet and thoughtful; I'm a bit of a loudmouth at times. She is frugal; I'm, well, I'm not, to be honest. But she's trying to teach me. It's a process.

Our mutual faith in God has always been the common denominator in our relationship. I was attracted to her by her compassion, a gift from God that she has exercised to be a blessing to many people. That compassion prompted her to reach out to me at a tough time in my life. And I am so thankful to God that He gave her that compassion and used it to bring us together.

Jolene is intelligent and wise, a combination that has kept me out of trouble throughout our marriage. She never busts my chops when I mess up; she gently offers advice and helps to steer me back onto the right path.

Jolene is a wonderful Mommy to Joel. And our little man loves his Mommy with the same passion that she possesses. I love watching them interact, playing, laughing, loving, it's a huge blessing to me.

Twenty-one years of marriage. It hasn't been perfect, but it has been, and always will be, sweet. Just like my Baby Girl. I love you, Jo.

By the way, iolite is a rather obscure, blue gemstone that is mined in India, Sri Lanka, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Brazil. The Vikings used to use iolite as a navigation tool. Who knew?