Me and my Honey

For Valentine's day my hubbie took me to Orlando.  We left the girls with my parents and took off.  When we got back, as I was telling our girls all that we did, they said "You guys are so cute, you're like teenagers."

What did we do?  We went to Universal and Islands of Adventure.  We walked around the parks getting on rides, pushing each other to see if we would trip, skipping steps to keep in sync with each other, sharing a slushy, taking pictures of ourselves...I could go on.  Point is, we had fun, lots of fun.  We enjoyed ourselves and enjoyed each other without caring who was looking or what they were thinking.

But we are not on the teenage stage of our relationship.

We have been married 16 years now.  During those years we have been through some wonderful times.  We have celebrated the birth of two beautiful healthy girls.  We have laughed.  We have enjoyed.  But we have also been through some really difficult times.  I will speak for myself because I don't want to put words in his mouth though I think he would agree with most, if not all of what I am saying...  I have made some major mistakes, bad decisions.  I have measured him by unattainable standards.  I have thought of love as something which it is not.  It is not a feeling.  It is not flirting.  It is not romance.  It is not all smiles and giggles.  It is not easy.  It's hard work.  It's a decision you make each day to pour yourself into a relationship with someone.  It is a choice you make to want to be with someone regardless.  In sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, with hair and without it, at 130 pounds and at 180, with all your real teeth and with dentures, when you want to be intimate every day and when it only happens once a month.

Would I have chosen to go through all the hardship we have been through in our marriage?  No.  Do I regret things I have done?  Yes.  But I am ever so thankful that God has allowed us to live through those experiences, to grow as individuals and as a couple, to learn to lean on Him for everything.  We would not be the couple we are today had we not been through...well, what we've been through.  Did God cause us to make bad choices?  Did he cause us to fight, yell and scream?  No.  But He allowed us to because He knew we needed to hit bottom in order to stop trying to drive our own lives and instead give Him the wheel.  He allowed us to because He knew that He would be able to use our experiences to not only bring glory to Him but also to bring comfort to other couples for whom we can be proof that it can work.  God can redeem any relationship.  He can heal any wound.  If you are someone who has known us before and after, you se ethe difference and you know what I'm talking about.

Hubbie and I do act like silly teenagers in love sometimes, and I sooo enjoy it.  But we know that the "fuzzy feelings" are just icing on the cake and not the main ingredient.

Some have heard me say that I can't pin point how it was that we went from disaster zone to peace an wonderfulness but I can say this...It wasn't until I pointed the finger back at me that things began to work out.  I can't an shouldn't try to change who or how he is.  I can't control how he reacts to things or what he does.  But I can ask God to work in me, to change my heart, to allow me to focus on the positives, to allow me to be the wife he needs me to be.  The wife that God created me to be.

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud."  - 1 Corinthians 13:4

If you are single, pray that God would bless the person He has created for you.  Pray that he or she would love Jesus and make Him the center of their lives.  Wait on the Lord to bring you the right person.  Do not despair.

If you are married, regardless of the shape your marriage is in...make Jesus the center of your relationship.  Ask Him to allow you to see your spouse through the eyes of God, to love them with the heart of God.  Ask God to give you patience, to allow you to be kind, to take pride away.

I am so thankful for all God has done in our lives.  I love my life.  I love my honey.  I love my kids.  I love my God.  I love my Jesus.  <><