the straight and narrow...

As promised several weeks ago, wanted to recap Amy's accomplishment over the past four years. Few things in this life are accomplished without the help of others - our salvation only through Christ, our life through our parents, our happiness from our children, and on and on - that was the reason for the recent thank you to friends and family before reminding us what we've all accomplished together...

I'll never forget that when we were dating and both applying for med school, Amy and I would talk about the "what if" of either of us NOT getting in. From that time to this, Amy and I have always been convinced that if this was God's will for either or both of us, He would either continue to bless our work or hinder us with failure. To some extent, we've experienced a little of both. But certainly we have seen His will at work throughout the long process.

Now here we are - four years of college, two years of graduate school, four years of medical school and four years of residency training later... Amy is done!

I won't recount all the tedious details of the past decade I've known Amy while this process has unfolded, but I will give you some of my fondest memories:

- Amy got the call she had gotten into medical school 3 days before our wedding - the dean of admissions actually tracked her down at her parent's house in Tupelo to tell her the news over the phone personally.
- For the first 3 1/2 years of our marriage, we lived on-campus at the University in a 2-bedroom, 396 square foot apartment. Think about that one for a minute...
- Since we've been married and in school, we've been able to travel to Tahiti, Italy, San Francisco, New York City, Vail Colorado, Disney World, Washington DC, Charleston SC, among others; but our favorite trips continue to be closest to home - to Forest and Tupelo...
- On the day we closed on our first house, Amy told me she was pregnant with our son
- Amy started residency July 1st, 2004 - scared to death that she was going to kill someone with a Tylenol order - I'll never forget the phone conversation that first night she was on call as a "real doctor"
- During her second year of residency, she was named Resident of the Year (this award voted on by the medical school student body is given to one resident out of all the programs at UMC who is considered the best teaching resident at the hospital)
- Three months into her fourth year of residency, Amy gave birth to our daughter

Now, here we are - thousands of children delivered into this world, hundreds of operations performed, innumerable lives touched by her wise counsel - and still the best wife and mother I know!!

I have been surrounded all my life with Godly women - my mother, grandmothers, great-grandmothers, sisters, aunts, great aunts - to them I give all the credit for showing me the kind of woman to search out. But to my Amy, I give all the praise of Proverbs 31:29 - "Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all."

Amy, I love you and like so many others, I'm so proud to have been a part of your accomplishment.