On May 28th, 1974, the world became a brighter place.

A little cherub of a girl was born, eyes pinched shut, scalp graced with a shock of black-brown hair. She’s a feisty one. She’ll need a lot of love. A lot of care. Tenderness and patience that her mother does not possess, attention and security her mother cannot give. She’s seventeen, and her boyfriend has left her holding the tiny gift neither of them deserve.

She’s young, but she is courageous. She gives up her flesh and blood for adoption, insisting that her little girl be placed in a loving Christian home with a mommy and a daddy even though she is not a believer herself.

Fourteen days later on a lovely, sunny day the tiny gift is passed to a young couple eager to receive her. They know she’s a gift. They will treat her that way. She’s been chosen, after all. Her three year old brother is ushered into a room where she waits. She’s bundled up and placed into his arms. Beaming like a sunrise, he is given the honor of carrying her into the next room into the arms of her new parents. And she’s loved.

Many years later that girl realizes that her parents aren’t the only ones that have loved and chosen her. She slowly awakens to the unquenchable love of Jesus Christ and gives her love in return. Chosen again. Adopted again, this time into a heavenly family.

But this is my story too. Because I fell in love with this gift and have also chosen her — to be my wife, my best friend, my lover, my treasure among mortals. Chosen a third time. I get to see her flower bloom, unfolding like a resplendent flower catching the glory of the sun. She’s that captivating.

Yesterday was her birthday.

My love, my Evenstar, my treasure… I adore you. I choose you still, every day of my life.