The Gift of Together

David and I celebrated 10 years of marriage!  10 years!  I can't hardly believe it.  God has truly blessed me with this man.  When I was walking down the aisle all those years ago, I knew God had prepared my husband for me, and vice-versa; I knew this was right, and had no doubts.  But there were still a lot of unknowns.  We were both older when we married and it was our first marriage.  When you're older, you have more set ways and patterns of doing things.  Would we be successful in blending them?  Would we be able to combine our belongings into his small two-bedroom house?  Would we get used to sharing a bed?  I had never lived on my own....would I be ready to take on the responsibilities of a house AND a husband?  David wondered what it would be like to have to share his space and life with someone when he had been used to living on his own so long, and he LOVED his independence....

God took us by the hand and led us into an amazing journey that continues to this day.  We adapted so well to life together, those concerns seem silly now.  Of course, there have been disagreements and conflicts, but we have worked through them, learning to give, compromise and sacrifice along the way.  We hate any unresolved conflict which as it turns out, is a wonderful gift to have in marriage.  We want to talk things out before they become huge obstacles.  I have had to forgive David, and he has had to forgive me.

My engagement ring is a trilliant cut....it is triangular in shape.  When David gave it to me, he said there will be three people in our marriage just like the three points of your ring....God, you and me.  I wear it on my finger positioned so one point sits at the top, and of the two bottom points, one is slightly higher than the other.  This is to remind me the top point is God, the slightly higher point is David and the slightly lower point is me.  That is our secret....God is top priority, our spouse is next and we are last.  We rely on God for everything, and we demonstrate our dependence on Him by praying to Him for each other every morning and night.  Have you ever tried to be angry or annoyed at someone while praying for them? Yeah, doesn't really work haha. He's helped us through the first decade of our marriage and He will be the only way we will thrive through more decades.

God's gift of love between us has been an unbelievable blessing.  Don't know where I would be today without David's love, support and encouragement.  He has nudged me when I needed it, has encouraged me to stretch myself farther than I thought possible, but has also held me when I've cried in discouragement that I couldn't do more physically.  He refuses to let me beat myself up.  And that is a full-time job sometimes. : )

Thank you Lord for the gift of David and our marriage!
I pray you strengthen it and continue to help it thrive for many years to come!

The Snag of Perfect

Have you ever been snagged by perfectionism?  I am not really a perfectionist when it comes to other people.  I mean, I'm pretty laid-back.  But oh what a different story when it comes to myself.  I can be very hard on myself and lay out high expectations and drive and strive to meet them.  When I can't, I shut down.  And every time I think I've improved with it, something always rises up again to remind me I'm still not done with the journey.  This blog is one of those things.  It's been snagged in perfectionism.

You see, I've let so many countless opportunities to blog go by because I didn't have the time (or inclination) to blog about it "right."  The Lord has blessed me left and right, and I haven't been recording it here because I felt it wasn't good enough, or that I couldn't make a "full-length" blog about it.  Whatever that is?

Lord, forgive me.  I've been resisting writing and recording your blessings and gifts to me because I didn't think I could do it the right way.  How silly is that?  I have a real fear of failure.  If I fear I won't be able to do something, I am much more likely not to try in the first place.  So many simple gifts flown by and not remembered, not treasured forever in my heart by this written record because I was afraid to try to write it down the "right" way.

Well, God has given me a new vision for this blog.  I am now recording those simple gifts and blessings that happen around me, whenever they resonate in my heart.  Whether recording them here takes one sentence, or many paragraphs.  My writing may not be perfect, but that's not the point of this blog.  I've always wanted this place to be where I record God's goodness and inspire my gratitude to Him in the process.

It's a new journey, and I'm grateful even for these hard-to-learn lessons!