Life in the Girls’ Dorm

It was on one of the hottest days of the entire year of 2006 that my wife and I packed a small U-haul and left everything that made us comfortable behind; our friends, our family, our house, and our beloved little dog (Lucille 3)  to follow a dream. It was a difficult decision to make and the execution proved infinitely more difficult. So for the last two years we have lived in Chicago as I pursued a Master’s degree in Christian History.

These two years have been the hardest of our young marriage. We’ve struggled finding ourselves in this new world. We’ve faced tragedy unlike anything we’ve had to face yet as husband and wife; some of which we have yet to digest. We have cried. We have wept. We have doubted ourselves and our resolve to see this through.

But we never doubted the other. I have always known of my wife’s unfaltering selflessness. She is a profoundly beautiful example of God’s redeeming grace; a life rescued so that others might be blessed. And though I have doubted my abilities, my wife never did. She has been a constant source of support and encouragement.

This is not to say that there has been no joy in our lives in the last two years. We have made wonderful new friends. We have made many, many fond memories in this maddening city. We have, as we have always done, laughed a lot… a whole lot. But it has been difficult.  And through it all, my wife has stood by me; faithfully and proudly. I love her.

This for her. This if for my beautiful wife…

just witnessed a rather rotund woman manhandle the last “puff” from a shared joint from her husband.

her husband was half her size…looked scared…gave up the roach.

someone talked to me! someone in chicago actually engaged me in conversation. it was about the weather.

Diabetic Limb Salvage. Yikes!

nearly run over by a really nice Mercedes Benz… again.

saw a guy who once cut my hair. avoided eye contact. hastened walking pace.

Directly in front of me are shelves of academic journals. The shelves are stacked six high and five wide. On each shelf there are three journals. So directly in front of me there are… oh crap math!…ninety journals. If the titles of the three journals per section are combined to form one title it usually results in a journal I would be more likely to read than each of the journals alone. At random…

The International Journal of Middle Eastern Plant Psychology

Iowa Review of Iraqi-Irish Biblical Studies

The Grassroots Development of Jewish Manhood & Womanhood Quarterly

The Journal of Democratic Cuneiform Development Studies

Just thought you should know.