Today marks 6 years of being married to my very best friend Sean Farrell, who also happens to be the creative director, photographer, and graphic designer behind Dashing Dish!

Many people do not know that Sean is actually one of the biggest reasons that Dashing Dish exists today. I will never forget the night that we sat on the couch in our apartment as a newly married couple, when Sean said to me, why don't you share the recipes that you are so passionate about making online?! I had never even heard of a blog before, and had never visited a recipe website, so to me this was a foreign concept.

Although I didn't know what this 'website' would look like, my husband encouraged me to sign up for a Wordpress themed website, and share one of my favorite recipes. At that time I thought that this 'recipe website' would be a simple website where I would share a recipe every now and then, and perhaps those that I love (mostly family members) would visit from time to time...After all, I just started a full time nursing job, so I knew I wouldn't have a lot of time to devote to it.

Little did I know that God had a beautiful ministry in the making, and it all began with the simple and sweet encouragement from my husband.

About six months after starting Dashing Dish, I started to receive hundreds of e-mails from women of all ages, from all around the world. Whether it was about losing unwanted weight or finding freedom in the areas of eating disorders, each woman had their own story. I started to realize the great responsibility that God had given me with this website and that it was meant to share much more than recipes. I felt the Lord prompting me to share about the freedom and joy that can only be found in Him and to teach women how to find their true beauty in exchange for the ashes of their life (Isaiah 61:3). I came to a place where I knew beyond of shadow of a doubt that this was my calling and it was confirmed to me many times over.

Despite knowing my destiny was awaiting me, I started to have doubts. How could I have spent five long years in nursing school, and have the job of my dreams, and give it all up for something that wasn’t yet even established as a business or ministry!?! I began to wrestle with what my heart was telling me and I second-guessed myself at every turn.

This is where my incredible husband came in again!

One night as I sat I sat in our bed rolling over the weight of the decision that I knew I was facing, my husband came in to pray with me. Tears poured out for the women that I knew God was calling me to reach...Yet at the same time, my thoughts and analytical brain was racing in every direction. My sweet husband grabbed my hand and said Katie, what is in here, and he pointed to my heart. He said, stop listening to all of the thoughts that are so loud right now, and all of the analyzing and rationalizing, and look at what is in your heart. What is God speaking in here?!?

I will never forget the evening that my husband spoke the words to my heart that encouraged me to take the step of faith. That was the moment when I felt that I could be 'brave' enough to do what God was calling me to do, because my husband encouraged me to lean, trust, and depend on Him.

As I approached this huge next step in my life, Sean, (who is a graphic designer) began to create the new Dashing Dish website, (as you see it today), and he ended up spending one full year creating and developing it! So, not only would this ministry not even exist today without Sean, it also wouldn't be the easy to use, beautiful, and family friendly, ad-free website that it is today, (I have to brag on him a little!) ;)

Fast forward 5 years after starting Dashing Dish, I look back and am in awe of the journey that the Lord has taken us on...and the way that the Lord used both my husband and my talents to reach people with His love in this unique way.

Not only did Sean encourage me to start, step out, and design the Dashing Dish website, there are so many things that he does so humbly behind the scenes. He encourages me to dream big, and to do everything with excellence. He listens to my countless hours of practicing for videos, speeches, seminars, etc...and then he comes to every speaking event with me, (and might I add, they are mostly women's events, and he is the only guy, but he sure can hold his own in a crowd of hundreds of ladies, all while carting around my books). He prays for me daily. He has the most generous and giving heart. He pursues the Lord daily in his personal life. He answers countless 'technical' emails, he designs every beautiful creative image we have on Dashing Dish, and DD's Facebook page...and the list could go on and on.

The one thing that he does that really blesses me, and makes Dashing Dish possible, is that he shares my heart for each and every one of you! He prays for each person that visits DD on a daily basis, and he is constantly listening to my heart and what God is showing me for the women that visit.

{Sean helping me prepare 6 dishes at 11 pm in a small hotel room for the Fox & Friends show in NYC on New Years Eve}

And for those of you who don't already know, my husband has also been behind the scenes for the past year and a half, spending countless hours (on top of his regular work), designing a new and much improved Dashing Dish website and i Phone app! He has been working when he should be resting, in order to make the dreams that the Lord has been placing in my heart for this ministry for the past few years come alive! We are so incredibly excited about this new season of Dashing Dish, because we know that it was birthed by the inspiration that God gave us to make living a healthy lifestyle effortless!

{Sean & Dan (our amazing developer here at DD) working together on the newest version of Dashing Dish}

I share this story today on Dashing Dish, because many people do not know the man behind this ministry. He not only is the reason that I started this journey, but the reason that I am brave enough to say 'yes' to each new step that the Lord brings our way. I stand here today in total and complete amazement to think of how the Lord had it all planned out from the very beginning when we met at the ripe age of 16 and became high school sweethearts!

Sean, today I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for being a man after God's own heart. Thank you for encouraging me to dream big, to step out, and to keep on running after Jesus. It is because of your obedient, sensitive, strong, and brave heart, that God is able to work in and through Dashing Dish the way He does...and I know that there are countless lives that will be touched because of it. You always tell me how proud you are of me, and now I want to tell you!

To my husband, I thank you for being my personal hero, and for being my biggest fan! Happy Anniversary! xo