WHAT?!?!? I know. Ten years. It's crazy. It went fast. It went furiously. ;) It was amazing. Ten years of life with my husband. I still get goosebumps when I introduce Ry as my husband. MY HUSBAND. God has blessed me big time.
My beloved is mine, and I am his.
Song of Solomon 2:16
"I found the one whom my soul loves" (S. of S. 3:4). When I met Ry around eleven years ago (spring break of 2004 in Canada!!! WOOOO!) I knew I was going to marry him, the first day he revealed to me the kind of man I wanted to spend my life with (I had just turned 20 and he was almost 25). After the second day of being around him, I knew he was the man God had made just for me. Other than my belief in God, I had never been more sure of anything before or since. THEN I got to spend a week alongside him serving God and others at the most beautiful Young Life camp ever. There could not have been a more perfect, God designed, way for the two of us to meet. It took Ryan a little bit longer to realize we were made for each other. But once he did! We were engaged, planning a wedding, I moved to Florida for four months, then BAM. There we were.
Husband and Wife.
Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.
Ephesians 5:25
When Ryan proposed to me I was shocked. Completely taken back by it. I had been waiting...and waiting...and waiting...every moment seemed like THE moment and then it wasn't! The weekend we went to Joseph, OR to run our dog, hike, eat food, I had finally let go of the expectation that it would happen. The night we arrived at his family's cabin he pulled out a metal basin and heated up some water, set it in front of me and took off my sandals, I was really concerned that my feet were stinky! He assured me they weren't (he wouldn't have told me if they were) and proceeded to wash my feet and tell me how much he loved me and how he wanted to live out the kind of love that Jesus has for His church. I cried. We hugged. He did not propose. ;) The next day we went on a hike out to "the rock" and while we were out there we got attacked by these horseflies! They were nasty!!! I asked if we could leave, Ryan was glassing, so he bends down to put his binoculars away and spins around on his knee with THE box! I was so excited!!! He asked, I said yes, he put it on! We hugged!! Still so exciting just thinking about it. Side note...we didn't kiss until a couple of months before we got married, but that's a whole other story.
Our wedding was pretty low key, I just wanted to be husband and wife and move on with life! Our first year of marriage! Man, was that an eye opener. We argued differently, we kept house differently, we had different ideas of when kids should show up! (He was most definitely right on the kiddo timeline.) We realized just how differently God had made us! Designed us! Looking back over the last ten years of marriage, I am so thankful that God designed us this way.
Marriage is a constant check and balance. Give and take. Push and pull. ;) You get the idea. LOTS OF PRAYER. Checking in with one another to see how life is going, where you can support and encourage. How am I doing as your wife? What do I need more (or less of) from you as husband?
Not everyone likes the word "work" in reference to marriage, but it takes purposeful commitment and work (I don't have a negative connotation in regards to that word) to make any relationship work. It takes effort to get together but when someone is worth it, it stops being work and simply brings joy. I'm so thankful that God put me together with someone who puts God first and his relationship with God is first. Just like my relationship with God is first and there is a natural overflow that leads to huge blessings. (Look into the book You and Me Forever by Francis Chan and Lisa Chan, SO GOOD people!!!!) If you are both aspiring to be Christ-like it'll pour back into your marriage. God is so good.
So it only took 4+ months to post this...more to come. :)
