Marriage. 3 years. Lessons learned.

Tomorrow marks three years of happy wedding bliss for Jimmy and me! Like any married couple would concur, not every moment of marriage is blissful, however, it has been beautiful! Beautiful because God has been at work!  He has used my marriage to teach me more about Himself, more about another human being, and more about myself.  

A few things I've learned (thus far) through my marriage:

1.       Marriage is to be a reflection of Christ and the church. My husband is the head of our family and I am to submit to him. Although I’m not always the best at this...this is how it works best! It's God's design- see Ephesians 5:22-33.

2.       Communication is key.

3.       I am not always right. No matter how much I think I am.

4.       Having children is not something to be afraid of...even if that meant sooner than we expected. Having Charlie has been a blessing, a joy and a true gift from God.

5.       Shared hobbies help us connect…gardening, cooking, photography and taking short adventures together are some of our favorites.

6.       My husband is my biggest fan and support.

7.       Honesty is so important. 

8.       I definitely take up more than half of the bed.

9.       My selfishness often gets in the way of loving my husband. 

10.   Praying for my husband is more helpful than nagging him.

11.   I don’t always need to order the pizza I want.

12.   Laughing together is a real good thing. 

13.   It's more worthwhile to fight for my marriage… rather than fighting in my marriage.

14.   Communicating our expectations helps things go much more smoothly.

15.   Jimmy is not my savior. Jesus is.

16.   Being in fellowship with the church body is rich and valuable for our marriage.

17.  Being in God's Word individually helps us grow in our relationship with Jesus and with one another. 

I love my husband today in a deeper, richer way than the day I married him. And am so grateful to be able to celebrate three married years with James! Thank you God for giving us grace to love each other and thank you James for making marriage so enjoyable!