After Six Months of Marriage...

Our anniversary dinner at Brenner's Steakhouse on April 4, 2008
(pic is a little fuzzy 'cause Jason took it with his camera phone)


I'm not sure a lot has changed in what I believed about marriage from before we got married, to now, 6 months later. For instance, I still believe now just as much as I did then, that Jason is God's perfect gift for me. And I still believe just as much as ever that God didn't intend marriage to make us 'happy' in and of itself, but to make us more like Him... and you can't make something pure from what is utterly impure without a little fire ;)

God saw fit to give me Jason because he is such a good example for me. I have found that he represents so much of how and who I want to be. He never says an unkind word about anyone, is unendingly tolerant and patient with people and most situations and he is always striving to move forward, get better, achieve something.

Since we got married~

I have learned some ways we balance each other...
He always looks on the positive side of things, and can have a tendency towards idealism while I have a tendency to be a bit of a realist with a tendency towards pessimism. ~ He keeps me light, I keep him real. God wants us to enjoy the pleasures of life and He uses the challenges to grow us. We can and should rejoice during all seasons. Some seasons may be seasons of just good emotions, others may be a time of sobering joy~ having to exercise faith to see beyond the circumstances to the greater good.

And the ways in which to grow...
We have been blessed by our Newlywed Sunday School class. It is led by two couples, one of which has been married for over 30 years. They are still very much in love and you can see the richness and fullness of their marriage as a result of having believed in God's plan for marriage. They have taught us great little tools like 'the do-over' where you have a conversation that initially didn't go very well and you mutally decide to erase it and do it over... this time correcting it with a better tone of voice, more understanding, patience. We talked this past Sunday about things you should know in order to be a successful communicator. The most important points for me to take away being encouragement that communicating well doesn't happen over night, it takes time. That communicating is influenced by family of origin, personality, situational~ mood and circumstances and that all must be taken into consideration when conflict arises so as to better give one another grace. Managing conflict takes seeking understanding of each other's perspective and MOST significant to me was learning that our self talk~ the way we choose to internally process each other's response to something, has everything to do with how healthy we view our relationship. If you believe your relationship is healthy, then you feel good about each other and maintain the emotion of feeling 'in love.' I think it is so vital to learn to manage your self talk as a result... making sure to give one another the benefit of the doubt and always remembering to be thankful for the opportunity to share your life with your best friend.

Anyway, these are just some things I have been inspired and comforted by and helps me feel all the much more confident that I am where I am supposed to be. None of this would even be possible without our faith in Christ who makes all things possible. I love you, Jesus, with all my heart.