Celebrating 10 Years of Marriage!

I can hardly believe it, but tomorrow my husband and I are celebrating our 10^th wedding anniversary. How fast the years have gone! And how slowly they moved at times, too, especially through the endless days at home with two little children!

As I reflect on the journey of our relationship, I am thankful for both the surprises and the ‘dailyness’ of life. I am thankful for the families who shaped us, the mentors who helped prepare us for marriage, and for the friends who have shared our journey along the way.

As we celebrate 10 years of marriage, I can honestly say that we are looking forward to our future together with just as much, if not more, hope and anticipation than on our wedding day. And so today I wanted to share with you a few words of wisdom about marriage from various people along the way. These are lessons that have guided and shaped our marriage, and I hope they will inspire and encourage you as well:

“Marriage isn’t 50% giving and 50% taking. It’s about being willing to give 100% to the other person, because there will be times when they can’t give anything back.” (My dad, at my sister’s wedding)

“Find out the 3 jobs that your partner hates the most, and do them always, without being asked, without complaining.” (Pastor Rolly Stahl, at a friend’s wedding)

“If one of our greatest strengths is our communication, when you say you’re ‘Fine’ or when you don’t talk to me, we aren’t communicating, we aren’t operating in our strength”. (My husband, shortly after we were married. I keep needing to hear it, though!)

Some of the books that have helped to influence our marriage have been:

• Love and War by John and Stasi Eldredge (they talk about marriage as a shared adventure, which has become one of our ‘themes’)
• Love and Respect by Dr Emerson Eggerichs (talking about the different needs of men and women in a relationship)
• Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus by John Gray (especially the bit about the points system!)

In a nutshell, I think that the success of our marriage comes down to a few things:

• Shared values (faith, family and finances in particular)
• Similar personality types
• A great deal of personal growth before we were married
• Mutual trust, love and respect

Thanks for an amazing decade, my love. I look forward to the rest of our shared adventure!