One Year

One year ago today I married the man of my dreams...literally. I dreamt of the day he would finally be mine. It's funny how women pray for a man with certain qualities and say that he needs to be this and that. I prayed for three years to marry Mark knowing that he didn't have the qualities that a good husband needed. Here's what I knew for sure I wouldn't marry him if he wasn't in the church and by in the church I didn't mean just coming to church, I meant being fully invested in the church and what we believe. So that being said I prayed to marry Mark and only Mark because I knew that if I married him he would have at some point possessed the qualities and virtues necessary to be a great man. On December 3rd of 2010 I married Mark. My life was forever changed. Alot of the changes were amazing and wonderful. Some of the changes were slightly painful growing experiences, all of the changes were life altering. I know we have so many more hurdles to overcome and so many things to look toward to, but I am happy to say that we came through this past year stronger and closer. They say the first year is the hardest and I believe that to be true for those of us who go about marriage and relationships the way God intended. Moving in with someone and becoming so intimately connected all at the same time is a culture shock. It is also a beautiful thing and I am so incredibly blessed to have been through the ups and downs with the man of dreams. He has been everything to me and he has without a doubt become my best friend. He makes me smile the biggest smile, laugh the hardest laugh, and love the best love I have in my heart. Because he is my other half I am complete with him. If there is one thing this past year has taught me it is this: True love is not always the mushy gushy things you say or the passionate feelings you have. It's not always the flowers or cards or the spoken affection that is easy to have when times are good. It is not sex no matter how "in love" you think you are afterwards. True love is all of the above mixed in to the complete commitment you have to your husband or wife. It is the ability to give all of yourself to someone and never be depleted because they have done the same for you. True love is the strength you have together in hard times because you have put God above everything else in life. Thank you to everyone who has helped me learn this. Thank you to my husband who has let me experience true love :-)