I’ve officially been with this guy for half of my life.  Little did we know 17 years ago when we spent our first 4th of July together that we would be tied together for life.  We were two kids having fun and enjoying life, with no idea where life would take us, or even that it would take us together.  But God had plans in store, even back then.

In seventeen years we’ve done a lot of life together.  We’ve had fun and traveled and celebrated.  We’ve also been low, facing hurts and heartbreaks and disappointments.  We’ve faced circumstances that Satan intended to destroy us.  We’ve learned what grace and mercy and redemption look like.  We’ve learned that hope is a Person, and that He does not disappoint.  We’ve learned to laugh, to forgive, to admit our shortcomings, to be real, and to keep on trying.  We’ve learned that love is a choice, and not always an easy one.  

Marriage is a war, one we have to wage every day.  You see, the enemy doesn’t want our marriages to thrive.  He wants our families to fall apart.  So we have to fight for it every day.  We have to wake up in the morning ready for battle.  We have to fight selfishness, temptation, lust, and greed.  We have to take our thoughts captive and remember to put the other first.  We have pray for each other and pray together.  We need to serve each other and serve together.  We need to choose to love each other, and love others together.  We’re a team, held together by Christ, and we need to help each other stay focused on that.  

These past seventeen years have been full.  They’ve been busy.  They haven’t been easy.  But God has used them for good, and there’s no one else I’d rather do this life with!