You can always pause the music on the player to the right and you can also view pictures larger by clicking on them :-)

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

13 Years

Brock and I just celebrated 13 years of marriage!! In one sense I can't believe it has been 13 years and at the same time it's like "wow, only 13 years".
I love how each year brings us closer together, more in love, more tolerant of little imperfections and so much more in tune with each other. I can't imagine loving him more than I already do but experience has shown me that next year I WILL!
Our 13 years have encompassed life to the fullest - happiness, sadness, changes, stability, fun times, boring times, uncertainty, confidence, excitement, challenges, endurance, patience, love and so much more. Through all the changes we have learned about God's sovereignty, His power and His stability. We have learned to count on this when changes in emotions, feelings, settings and circumstances occur.
In 13 years we have:
*had 4 kids
*lived in 7 different homes (4 apt. & 3 houses)
*lived in 2 different states
*made 3 big moves
*owned 1 pet
*owned 2 houses
*started and ran a business together for 5 years
In 13 years we have:
*learned about love and respect
*learned about submission
*learned about leaving and cleaving
*learned about handling our anger
*learned about holding our tongues
*learned about parenting together
*learned about compromise
*learned about encouraging one another
*learned about praying for one another
*learned about praying together
and most of all learned that our standard in ALL of this needs to be GOD and what He commands in His Word
In 13 years we have:
*been silly together
*been exhausted together
*been sick together
*been devastated together
*been happy together
*been excited together
*been scared together
*been thrilled together
and so much more
but most of all we have learned that the key to it all is being TOGETHER
In 13 years we have learned
*that the sole purpose of marriage isn't our happiness but to refine us and make us more like Him
*that we can't expect each other to meet all our needs - only God can do that
*that we can't find our purpose in one another or our kids but in Him
*that we will suffer hardship and He will see us through it
*that hardship and trials truly do bring us closer together
*that we can trust God to work on our spouses so we don't need to :-)
*that putting the other above ourself is always best
*that our emotions can deceive us
*that communication is key but not necessarily immediate communication :-)
*that God always knows what is best even when we don't
and we continue to relearn these lessons and so many more
We know that without God in our marriage we wouldn't have the marriage we do today. We thank Him for bringing us together so many years ago and for staying with us every step of the way. He has guided us even when we weren't paying any attention to Him, He has comforted us although we were still asking "WHY", He has led us despite us being less than willing to follow. He has been more to us than we ever deserved. We have learned to seek His counsel, His guidance and teaching and we count on it as we journey through many more years together.

4 comments:

Coriander said...

Great post!! Love to take a look down memory lane with you!

Janelle said...

Happy Anniversary! I love this post! I'm so glad we have the privilege of living "under the mercy"!
Oh, and I like the new song on your playlist..."Times".

Greta said...

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! Congratulations on 13 years--it's hard to imagine for me since we're only barely coming up on 1 year! :) It was fun to read all you've been through and learned in this time, as well as see the pictures from the beginning of it all. ;)
p.s. You are a GREAT writer!

Karmen said...

Love this post, I love the different lists :) also, can't believe it's been 13 years! Crazy!