8 Years and Counting...

It's hard to believe. Patrick and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary yesterday. During breakfast, I was explaining to Daniel and Caleb what was so special about the day. I could see the motor turning in Daniel's head as he tried to comprehend a time that Mommy and Daddy did not know each other! Or that time exhisted before he came along!
One thing I can say marriage has taught me is that I have a gracious and wonderful God! And isn't that what marriage is about? Turning us toward the One that created marriage in the first place.

I think in many ways, Patrick and I have an "easy" marriage. We are very similar in many ways that count. We've probably had less than a half dozen arguments about finances or raising children! And we're very similar in things that aren't really that big of a deal. We both love the outdoors, especially hiking and skiing. We're both adventurous and don't balk when God says stuff like, "Fly to Russia", or "Move to Colorado for absolutely no revealed reason!" We love being involved with God's people. We're both night owls, which means we get to spend a lot of time together in the evenings without feeling like one of us is going against our natural bent. We're both irresponsible and messy (hmmm... is it because we're both youngest children?), which has created some problems in regard to who's going to put in a load of laundry, but we can't really get annoyed with one another about it! My pile of laundry on the bedroom floor is just as high as Patrick's! That we are so alike is truly God's grace on us because these are not things we necessarily discussed in depths before marriage or took any compatability test about. But it hasn't all been all peaches and creme, romance and roses! I read somewhere that the most likely times for a couple to separate are the first year, around the seventh year and after the kids leave home. The article also explained that the reason year seven is so crucial is because it is a time of big decision for the couple. At this point in their marriage they have come to realize the person they are married to is not going to change... (eek!) And their decision is, will I give up on changing my spouse and accept them the way they are? Or will I move on? That all sort of makes sense to me... But I can't help thinking, "Where is the hope in that? God is in the business of changing people. And if it takes 40 or more years of marriage to do it, He'll do it!"

Well, year seven and eight have been the hardest so far. I've seen God's grace in the ways you'd assume as we've learned to love one another through thick, thin, trials, celebration, plenty, want, sin and forgiveness. I really felt like our anniversary yesterday was a celebration of the things God has brought us through!

But one area where I have seen God's grace to be most profound in my marriage is the fact that I married Patrick at all! I did not marry such a wonderful, kind and gracious man with this much integrity because I made a calculated, well-thought out decision! I did not have a very good record of making good decisions at that point in my life. Whenever I look at where I could have been, I see God written all over me. Because left to my own devices I would not have the life I do -- a husband who leads our home, three of the most gorgeous little boys you've ever seen, the oppurtunity to stay home and disciple my children... God is good and I am blessed to have His goodness on my life!