Happy Anniversary

As you all know, I haven't blogged in a while. I'm going to try to catch up in chronological order, so I start with our our wedding anniversary that was on November 18th. Seven years ago, I said the following: "I, take you, to be my husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part." If there's anything I've learned in 7 years of marriage it's that there's a reason we make the promise BEFORE we enter into marriage. I didn't know when I said...

1. "for better or for worse" how bad the "worse" days would look. They've been ugly.

2. "richer or poorer" that there would be richer days. When do those show up?

3. "in sickness and in health" that I was marrying someone who is a carrier of the exact same Cystic Fibrosis gene that I have and that we would pass it on to our daughter.

4. "to love and cherish" that there would be days I would have to will myself to love and pray hard for a desire to cherish.

5. "until death do us part" that I would die little deaths along the way so that only physical death would separate us.

I still really believed that marriage was all about me, my happiness, and happily ever after. I didn't know the beautiful things Christ was going to teach me about himself through the relationship I have with my husband. Just as James 1:2 states, joy comes from facing trials of many kinds (not being able to avoid trials). I didn't know marriage was a lot more about loving than being loved. So I am thankful I have learned that...

1. the "worse" days keep me humble and dependent on Christ. They also give the "better" days perspective. I love that each word implies that the other exists.

2. richness comes in many forms, not just monetary. And learning to live life within the means of the income we receive is a continual lesson that draws us closer together.

3. presence of disease does not determine the length of someone's life. We have a sovereign Creator who holds life and death in his hands. It is his will that we submit to.

4. Christ, in his sinless state, spent hours praying to love us to the point of death on a cross. Anything short of that would have meant eternity separated from God with no hope of ever getting to him. It is a blessing to pray to the point of loving.

5. if I had it to do over, I would do it again.

Dan, I love you.