Marriage Is...

When K and I got engaged we were on Cloud 9. I had been rather, ummm, grumpy about waiting for the event to take place and I couldn't have been more thrilled to finally have that official tie to my sweet guy. Of course, because he proposed in front of scads of people we received tons of advice mere minutes after the ring hit the finger. Some funny, some sweet, some serious, some interesting and all given by well meaning people. The advice that we heard the most often was "Don't get discouraged! If you can make it through the first year you can make it through anything." I seriously cannot tell you how many times we heard that piece of advice given. We heard it phrased every way imaginable but the sentiment was the same throughout : The first year is going to be really rough but if you make it through unscathed you can make it work forever.

Honestly, I was a terrified wreck for the first few months of our marriage. I was constantly on edge, waiting for the big fight to happen. I just knew that eventually, just like everybody said it would, life was going to take a terrible turn. He was going to do something or say something that would bring out the crazy in me and we'd start yelling and fighting until the neighbors had to call the police. Maybe not something that dramatic, but you get the idea. I was prepared for a year of turmoil. 

Finally, it hit me. 

I like marriage. He likes marriage. We couldn't be happier.

The last year has been the best year of my life. You're never going to hear me get all sappy about how much I miss college life or how tough it is to be poor seminary students. The truth is that even though I do miss my college friends and it IS tough being "poor" I would not trade where we are now for any. stinking. thing. We are blessed beyond measure to have each other and gosh darnit I refuse to take it all for granted. 

We have encountered rough patches.

We made it through.

Together.

We have laughed and cried and lived and loved.

We've been mad at each other.

We've gotten over it. 

So what I'm trying to say is this:

That crappy year that I expected? We've left every shadow of it in the dust. I'm not trying to be cocky or say that we're not going to encounter seasons that are trying and that test our marriage to it's very limits. I'm just saying that every moment is precious and I'm down-on-my-face-before-the-Lord thankful that this year has been a beautiful blessing shared with my awesome husband.

The end.