10 love-filled years!
10 years of learning about each other; loving each other; supporting each other; bracing for the bad and embracing the good.
Today my husband and I celebrate our 10th anniversary. Ten years ago it seemed so far away, and yet, here is the day. By the start of the post you’d think we had the best ten years ever. However, like all marriages we have had good times and hard times.
We’ve had friends tell us they see us as the “perfect couple”; the couple to watch; the couple to pattern communication after; the couple that sets an example for others.
I wish I could say that yes, we are the “perfect couple”, but we are just like other couples.
We struggle, there is miscommunication, we don’t communicate at all sometimes (although, it is more me than my husband…I have this stubborn streak and sense of dread when it comes to “talking”), and we have our days when we wonder if we are going to make it.
We “discuss” finances, worry about each other’s health (and, again, me being the more difficult one to handle due to my anxiety issues), and we work at God’s command to not let the day end with us angry.
In your anger do not sin: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry. Ephesians 4:26
Our goal these last ten years has been to let Christ be at the center of our marriage. We try and follow God’s descriptions of the good husband and good wife in the bible.
Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Colossians 3:18
Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them. Colossians 3:19
These directions may seem easy, but God gave them to use for a reason; they aren’t easy! We are human. In all honesty, my husband is never harsh with me. He is the most tender-hearted, loving, patient man God could have given me in a husband.
But, me, be submissive? Trying! Working on it! Holy moly it is not easy! (Hello! Stubborn streak again!) My husband, if he is reading this, is nodding his head in serious agreement!
As a woman, if you have ever read Proverbs 31: The Wife of Noble Character, you know there is an even larger description of the perfect wife according to God’s plan. Honestly, I feel pretty good if I accomplish even one or two of the items in the description, such as considering a field (finances) and providing food for us (cooking). I have the cooking part down (sort of), but the other is a struggle. (I shop when I am down and frustrated. I was raised knowing the value of the dollar, but my human mind takes over. And, yes, that has been a huge topic in this household.)
But, back to the topic.
I know that isn’t what God wants. He wants to see me be even better than that as a wife. He wants to see me, and my husband, thrive in this marriage.
I have learned a lot in the last ten years, but I still have so much more to learn. A marriage isn’t figured out overnight. Even after ten years there is still so much growing and working together to do.
Today I am thankful for, and blessed, to have such an honorable husband; one who has stayed by my side and loved me for who I am. Today I treasure that. Today I focus on the love we share.
Today I vow to continue to love my husband in sickness and in health and until death do us part.
Today I vow to continue working on being the wife God wants me to be.
Love isn’t just a feeling. It is an expression. It is an action. It is created by God, just as marriage was created by God. Love is what I hope to show my husband going forward in this marriage. I look forward to the next decades with my husband.
