It’s true. I got married.

For those of you that have followed along, you know my history… which means you also know how incredible this man is if I allowed him into my life and into my children’s lives.

We met in Spring 2018 by way of a mutual friend. Ben was adamant that I meet Lenny, even though I was adamant that I didn’t date Marines.

I agreed to meet him for the first time at a park… with homemade gluten free brownies, little jars of milk and paper straws. Lenny offered to bring my favorite ice cream.

We clicked immediately.

We sat for hours on wooden benches while taking in the breathtaking view of the North Carolina marshes as the sun began to set. Our conversation started out light and comfortable sharing about our children, our work, our immediate lives. Lenny told me about his upcoming summer off from work and a move to attend a school in Virginia by September.

As the afternoon past by, we opened up more and found a lot of commonality as we shared our hopes and dreams that had been lost with divorce and the heartbreak of abandonment. The difficulty in navigating the legal battle that waged against us. The frustration of being a part of a story that was not ours… but one that affected every aspect of our lives.

A few months ago I asked Lenny when he knew he was going to marry me… and his response was “within a few hours of sitting in the park with me…”.

I remember the moment that I submitted to God that I would be a single mom and find joy in the decision. It was month’s before meeting Lenny. I was determined to live alone and focus solely on raising children and not allow anyone to hurt me or my children again.

I didn’t know what God had in store for me. I didn’t know that Lenny was going to be so incredible… that he was going to choose to be a dad to my children, Jack and Abigail… and that his daughter, Allie would be the most amazing little girl to add to our family.

By submitting to God’s will for my life, I walked the path that put me right in front of the man that He chose for me. By choosing to deny myself and finding peace in my heart, I was ready for Lenny. There were many days that I second guessed how great and easy our life was together… how could it be this good? I didn’t deserve a man like this.

But Lenny continued to show me his love, how much he cared for me and the honor and commitment he vowed to me.

With the approval from my parents to marry me, Lenny and I got engaged in October 2018 and began planning our wedding weekend. We purposefully planned in downtime between events to allow me adequate rest as my body is still recovering from a recent illness. The weather was beautiful, the trees still flowering… each moment was truly blessed by God.

I am still in awe that all of this life has happened. A dramatic change from where I was just a few years ago. Lenny is amazing… in every possible way. We were designed and created to live this life together – truly a balance to each other in every single way.

We celebrated with good food, drinks and cupcakes as we enjoyed quality time with our small invite list full of dear family and close friends. The air was full of joy and every single moment was perfect. There is not a single thing that either one of us would change.

Thank you for praying over me, for loving me, for reaching out to me on all of those days that I could not find myself buried under the hurt I carried. Thank you for asking God to bless me with a man that would commit his whole life to me and to raising these children with me.

This is our happily ever after…

Aimee

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