This weekend, hubby and I will celebrate our 2 year anniversary.  I can’t believe how fast the past two years have FLOWN by. They have been absolutely amazing and I really expect them to get even better.  I wanted to share a few things I’ve learned from being married.

How deeply our God loves us.

If marriage has taught me anything…It has taught me about love.  True love. Agape love.  The love that is so deep that only God can give.  I always thought I had a bit of a grasp on how God loves us.  I had John 3:16 memorized.  I knew despite all we do, that He loves us. I’ve been told all that my entire life.

It was until saying I do, and beginning a life with this man that God had created for me, did I realize I didn’t understand His love at all.  It is unconditional.  Unbelievable.  Something we as humans can’t wrap our minds around.  But God created marriage between a man and a woman to to perfect, pure and intimate.  Just like He wants our relationships with Him to be.

My husband has taught me how to love fully.  For that, I am forever grateful.  I have a deeper love for our Father who created us with each other in mind. I have a deeper love for my husband each and everyday.  It’s truly a beautiful and perfect thing.

Our parents always told us that when we had kids of our own we’d understand why they love us so much and why they do the things they do for us.

Hey mom & dad…I’m starting to get it.

After marrying who I believe to be the greatest man on the planet, I wasn’t sure I’d have enough love inside of me to love anything else. 

It’s amazing how God creates babies, and grows our love for them over time. I’ve never seen her little face. I’ve never held her hand, or touched her. I am patiently (some days not-so-patiently) waiting until the day I get to see her face to face!

How much is that like our relationship with God? We haven’t seen him, or touched him. Yet we talk to him everyday and look so forward to the day we see his face.

As much as I’m not a fan of pregnancy…I’m a fan of this love. I am growing more in love with my baby girl everyday, and more in love with a perfect God who created her and is shaping her everyday inside of me.

Wow. I guess I do have enough love.

I’d be lying if I said I don’t cry every time I watch this. There is just something special about their love. I know…I know…it’s not real. But yes, yes it is. Love like that CAN be and IS real.

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I fall more in love with my husband every single day. We have that love. It’s not always easy (because he’s a gross boy), but we make it work because we’re madly in love with each other.

Think back to the day you got married. I hope you’re more in love with your spouse today than you were then!! If not…do everything you can to get there!

Thanks Jim & Pam for the beautiful example of love you set for us.

I am overwhelmed with blessings.  I am overwhelmed with a God who loves me more than I can understand.  I am overwhelmed by the beauty He gives and shows us. 

We serve a God SO big and so mighty.  He shows us such grace and compassion.  He is the ultimate picture of love.  My hubby has been blogging about a song called “How He Loves”, and I too cannot get this song out of my head and can’t stop praising a God that is the giver of all things beautiful and perfect!

He knows us. He loves us.  He makes us perfectly in His image.

Psalm 139: 13-18

14 I thank you, High God — You’re breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration — what a creation!

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Lord, thank you for your GRACE.

Do you do what you love? I mean really LOVE? Like you couldn’t NOT do it because it’s what you were made to do?

What are you passionate about? Truly passionate? The thing that keeps you up at night, that you get incredibly frustrated when other people do wrong or don’t care enough about? Are you pouring your life into that thing?

I have a heart for Africa.  I know…that’s what every Christian is supposed to say.  But it’s true.  I remember when I was very young praying for this country and how I could someday make an impact on the people that are hurting and don’t know Jesus.  In 2001, I had the opportunity to go there and physically do everything I could.  I had the honor of leading people to Jesus.  I played with children.  I held the hands of hurting women.  It was life changing.  I also got a really bad reaction from the malaria medicine and hallucinated that I saw pink monkeys and stuff.  Good stuff. 

In 2004, I began sponsoring a child through World Vision from that same country I visited.  I always hope she was one of those children who sat in my lap as I read them stories about Jesus, or one of the little girls that braided my hair.  One day I hope to go meet her, hug her and be able to show her how much I love her.

I love great causes.  TOMS is an awesome organization that gives a pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair you buy.  I wish I could buy a thousand pair…but my husband is mean and won’t let me. Plus they’re cute and comfy.  Can’t beat that. 

I’m passionate about helping people.  I love to help women in difficult relationships and help them see their potential and how Jesus sees them. 

What are you passionate about? What gets you excited? What more can you do? How can you bless someones day without them knowing it was you?

My brain is going crazy with all the things I want to do. 

A question that gets asked often around our house.  I have tried to make it a habit to consistently ask my husband what I can do for him throughout the week to make his life easier.  I made a promise to him to be there with him through life, and to always support him in everything.  Whatever that may mean!  One way I found to do this was to ask.  I can’t always know what he wants me to do for him, or how I can help him.  But I can know if I ask him!

Just a simple question of “what can I do for you today?” or “what can I do for you this week to help you out?”  I don’t always ask him daily, and frankly I think it would be a little annoying if I did, but I still try to at least some point during my week to ask what I can do for him.  Sometimes it’s things like laundry, grocery shopping, or helping him pick songs for Worship on Sundays.  Sometimes he needs prayer.  Sometimes he just needs me to love him. 

I love it when he asks me what he can do for me.  Those simple words show me that he truly cares, and really wants to help make my life easier.  I know that cleaning the house, doing laundry and giving Jack a bath are not his favorite things to do.  But he knows when I’m busy with work and want to come home to a clean house and clean dog.  So he does those things for me, and then I get to focus on spending time with him and not worry about the house.  Plus it’s a HUGE turn on when he does those things.  Try it out guys…I guarantee she’ll appreciate it

Sometimes this takes sacrificing what YOU want for what THEY want.  But this has been key to making our marriage THRIVE!!

What can you do for your spouse today? Ask them!

So after you’ve been married a year are you no longer “newlyweds”? I’m not sure how that whole process works.  Well I love being married.  And I love being a newlywed.  I’d like to be a newlywed longer if that’s ok with ya’ll.  I like that I can snuggle my man in public and love on him and people say “aw you must be newlyweds”.  Shoot I want to be newlyweds forever in that case!

Why do couples get stuck in a rut of not showing enough love to our spouses? I wish I could say I haven’t fell victim to this.  I absolutely love my husband more than anything in this world, but sometimes I do get so busy and caught up in life that I realize a few days have gone by and I haven’t done anything special for him.  My goal is to REALLY romance him this year.  Get ready baby…I’m gonna love you even more than year one!!

Everyday I’m reminded how lucky I am to be married to my best friend, and I never have to worry about anything.  He’s the most drama-free person I’ve ever know (Praise Jesus!) and he loves me unconditionally.  I’m one lucky girl.  Just basking in that goodness today. 

Love you baby.  I like that I have you to brag about

Yes, I’m one of “those girls”.  I love Valentine’s Day.  I think it’s great.  However, I’m lucky and have a wonderful husband who constantly shows me how much he loves me, but it’s so fun when he goes above and beyond so I get super excited for this holiday. I never know what to expect so I just wait patiently like it’s Christmas morning or something and see what the day will bring.  Lucky for us V-Day fell on a Saturday so we had the whole day together!!

My day begins by me being woken by a really annoying alarm.  I don’t recognize it, so my first thought is that Brook has changed his ringtone on his phone or something.  It doesn’t stop though, so I gently nudge him (or stick my elbow in him really hard, whichever) to turn it off.  He claims it’s not his and I grab my blackberry off my nightstand and it’s not mine.  I’m totally blind for those of you that don’t know me, so without my contacts in, I can’t see past my nose.  So I can’t see what it actually is that’s making that noise.  Finally, since it won’t stop ringing I decide to put my glasses on so I can see.  There is an iPhone laying on my nightstand ringing!!!! WHAT?!? I don’t have an iPhone! My first thought was that it’s Brook’s iPod Touch, but nope.  It was my very own iPhone!! The alarm is going off to suprise me with my wonderful gift!!! There were flowers waiting for me on the kitchen table, along with quite possibly the best card ever.

All that to say, he did good!! Since we got to spend the entire day together, we decided to break up the day into 2 hour increments and each choose what to do for 2 hours at a time.  Which actually turned out to be pretty fun, because he didn’t have to worry about planning out the whole day, and we both got to do things we really enjoy that we might not typically do together.  We did breakfast, shopping, starbucks, more shopping, steaks, movies, etc.  It was a wonderful Valentine’s Day.  I feel so incredibly blessed to be loved so much by the greatest man in the world!!

Thank you baby for loving me as much as you do and for showing me that EVERYDAY! Of course, a new iPhone does help prove your love more

I hope you all had a wonderful day of love!!

I don’t fool myself into thinking that me and the hubby have the perfect marriage, or even that we have it all figured out.  However, I do like to think we are in a special category.  And I think we’re on the right track.  It’s interesting because in a lot of ways, we’re complete opposites.  I’m a hopeless romantic and he’s well…a guy. I like to shop and love pretty things, and he’d just as well live in a shack on the beach with nothing special except maybe a nice surf board.  But when it comes to the important things we’re on the same page. (Yes baby, I know surf boards are important things…)

Tonight we went on a date.  I love dating my husband.  I think a lot of couples miss that and don’t see how important it is to take some time out to focus on each other.  We’re still working on this area and I think there’s a lot we can do to make it better, and that’s my goal.  I enjoy going to dinner and just talking, walking through the mall holding hands, eating ice cream.  Makes my heart flutter.  Yes I said flutter.

Back in college when Brook and I dated, I was at work and he went to the barn (a drive through drink place I frequented) and pre-ordered me a diet coke.  Not an easy feat from what I’m told.  Put a sweet note on my car and a flower he had plucked from the side of the road on my windshield.  I’ll never forget that day and how special this new boy in my life had made me feel.  Now here we are 3 and a half years later and he makes me feel like that still.  It’s the little things that mean so much and I’ll always remember!

What can you do today for your spouse? Something little, or something big to make their day?  I think I’ll wash his clothes so he doesn’t have to keep wearing the same dirty ones.  Now that’s love.

Oh….HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TODD & WENDY! Your marriage is such a blessing to us and we’re so very thankful for your wisdom, friendship and all the “advice”!! Love you guys!