21 Years and Counting

The title of my blog has always meant to be a shout out to my wife.  I truly believe that I married above my station in life.  Through all the hills and valleys of our marriage, the one constant has been her faith in Christ.  I was not a Christian when we got married, but God watches out for us....sometimes even when we are not aware of it!

I remember our wedding day pretty clear.  It didn't start out to very good....

Since I didn't have a lot to do early, my buddies and I decided to go to a horse sale that morning.  I know I know...what was I thinking?  To be honest, I thought I had plenty of time.  We only had one chore and that was for my brother (Cully) and one of my friends (Marc) to try on their jackets.  Easy breezy, right?  Turns out their jackets did not fit.  Did they tell me?  NOOO!  They just came out and said, "All is good, let’s go!"  So of course we left to go to the sale.  We were probably at the sale for two or three hours, not long considering we got there about eight in the morning. 

As soon as I got home, Felicia called me.  She was upset and asked me, “Do you want to get married?”  What….what are you talking about?  After we got through the tears and anger, she told me the story of the jackets.  Turns out Cully’s wife (Kim) and one of her friends (Gina) ended up going into Houston to exchange the jackets that didn’t fit.  They went into a city they were not familiar with to a store they had never been to, to help out a friend.  That’s friendship, not like mine….who left me hung out to dry!  I’m kidding of course, but they did cause me some grief!

Once we got to the church, my nerves kicked in.  I must have walked around that church 50 times.  Of course we looked like a bunch of penguins, me with the long tails and all my buddies following me around in a line!

Once we got started though, the nerves all went away.  Felicia walked through that door and took my breath away!  I had never seen a more beautiful woman!  Still to this day, there isn’t a more beautiful woman in the world!

The preacher must have thought I was still nervous though, because we went through the vows…two words at a time!  He said, “I, Cory” and I just stared at him (I was waiting for the rest of the line!).  My best man (Rod), poked me in the side and said, “Say something!”  And so it went through all of the vows!

Preacher:  I, Cory…
Me:  I, Cory…
Preacher:  take you...
Me: take you...
Preacher:  Felicia
Me: Felicia

That’s how it went, all the way through!  It seemed like the longest vows in history.  I could feel Felicia’s hand shaking in mine…I like to think that it was her emotions.  But looking back, I think those emotions were laughter! 

At 4:16pm we were announced as Mr. and Mrs. Cory Johnson.  Finally I had trapped her and she couldn’t get away!

God has truly blessed me though the years!  First He gave me a beautiful wife, who loved me into a relationship with Christ.  I went to church with her for five years, not because I cared about the Lord, but because I just wanted to spend time with her!  Like I said, sometimes the Lord watches out for you…even if you don’t know it!  The Lord blessed us again when he gave us two beautiful girls (thank you God that they take after their Mom!).  

This latest chapter has been a struggle!  Felicia’s attitude, faith and strength have helped me through.  It’s hard to feel sorry for yourself, when the one who has had all of the hard things happen to her is showing such strength!

All I can say is…God bless you Felicia!  I love you more now more than I ever thought possible!  Thank you for 21 awesome years!  I cannot promise forever (only God can do that), but as long as I am here on this earth…you own my heart!