It was a calm, cool Thursday morning. The clouds provided a smooth blanket as far as the eye could see and the mist came and went. Storms were forecast later in the day, but at this moment, everything was perfect. We met at my apartment before heading to the church. May as well ride together, we figured, we’d be coming back to the same place for the first time.

It was unconventional in almost every way, but after all, what wasn’t for the Franks? Unconventional with a hint of whimsy. Who gets married on a Thursday afternoon, anyway?

When we got to the church, we realized we were the last to show up… whoops. In a quiet sanctuary surround by a dozen or so of our friends and family, we were married. Then we went to Wendy’s with Hailee’s sister and her husband. If value menu nuggets don’t scream of romance, I’m not sure what does.

That was 7 years ago today. 10-11-12.

We’ve always had fun with the randomness that we seem unable to avoid. For example, our stamped wedding certificate never actually made back it to us from the JP. We would later go to the courthouse and see what happened, only to find they were just as confused as we were. They gave us a crooked, sloppy photocopy and said it’s the best they could do. We often joked that our marriage may not even count. If Oklahoma still fully recognized common law marriage, we’d count for that by now anyway, so yay for us!

In the following years, we’d move a a few times. In fact, in the first 3 years of our marriage, Hailee added more addresses to her previous residence list than she’d had in the 20 years of her life prior—combined. Sorry, love. Frank move, it’s just a fact of life.

We would endure hardship. When we decided we were ready for a family, we were so excited about taking that next step. We didn’t have to wait very long before we found out we were pregnant. We had a lot of questions, we had no idea what we were doing, but we were excited. Four years ago, things seemed so much simpler.

But it wasn’t to be. Three miscarriages later, we decided to take a break from trying. While we took a hiatus and tried to get our bearing, we decided we could still do some good. We began the long process to becoming foster parents. We’d never imagined that’s where we would be, but we were burdened for the vulnerable children in our state and we committed to helping as much as we could.

Just a few days after we welcomed the first two kids into our home, we found out we were pregnant again. We had a lot to be nervous about, but the Lord was good to us. After fostering 5 different children over an 8 month period, we got to see the last girl reunified with her mom just in time for us to take a month and prepare for our little Lincoln. Just three months later we found out we were pregnant again, and this year we welcomed our little Grayson.

We’ve had comically crazy things go wrong with our house, cars, and almost everything you can imagine. Sometimes our life seems more like a 90s sitcom than reality.

But we’ve been through it together, and nothing has ever come between us.

Hailee, you’ve put up with all my various kinds of craziness over the years and my near-endless stream of hair-brained hobbies. You’ve been my biggest fan and strongest supporter through everything. I can’t imagine where I’d be without you, but fortunately, I don’t have to. The Lord has been good to me, and I’m so glad He brought us together.

7 years today. Here’s to 7 times 7 and then 7 more.