marriage

Out of the mouths of babes... well, actually out of the mouth of an 18 year old character in a widely popular teen literary series, the Twilight series...
The main character, Bella, in speaking of marriage, says "How did people do this - swallow all their fears and trust someone else so implicitly with every imperfection and fear they had - with less than the absolute commitment Edward (her "intended" aka the vampire) had given me?"
Rather than delve into a review of the series (I'll just direct you here to this site), I want to move into the thoughts on marriage...

On My Charming Kids, MckMama says, "I believe that marriage is the permanent union of two imperfect people, sinners who will time and again let each other down and fail to meet each others needs and desires completely. Don't get me wrong! Marriage can be filled with moments of joy and unbelievable love and a feeling of warm commitment as two people journey together in life, side by side. But many are the times when marriage doesn't feel good. When choosing to love the one you're with takes a lot of determination because you simply don't feel in love any more, or because your spouse is acting unlovingly towards you."

From It's Wonderful Life, RN & OSHP expands on the idea and says, "God's idea of marriage is so different than what the world has turned it into! When we marry someone we make a covenant with God and our spouse that we are choosing that person for LIFE.... Can we just soak a magnificent truth in awhile? The truth that we have a God who is so in love with us that He gave us a relationship (marriage) on earth to show just how faithful He is. Marriage is hard! Can I get an AMEN?! Guess what must be harder? Creating people in your own image and having them leave you for someone or something else. Having them completely rebel against you. Not only do they rebel, but they do horrible things to each other and all that you have created."

Wow, good words ladies. With this attitude, I'm er, well, not really being the best wife at the moment. Blessedly, my husband's sticking through it :)
No, but seriously. Now into our eighth year, it seems like we struggled through all the normal first year squabbles, moved into hard times brought on by stressful work situations, bringing us to this year's loss of our son. An amazing praise is that our struggles have brought us closer together. We've learned how to communicate about thoughts and feelings that we've never previously experienced together before. I know that we've got plenty of struggles ahead and while it may not be easy each step of the way, I do find it amazing... the gift of marriage given to us by our Father... the gift of experiencing life side by side to my hubby. My husband's my closest friend and I thank God each day for him.

Shout out about love & marriage on your blog and share your link back in the comments.