First Comes Love, Second Comes Marriage.

I started this blog to chronicle our (husband and I) walk through love, engagement, and ultimately marriage.  Three whole years have already flown by since this beautiful day...and it's CRAZY!  Truly crazy, and I feel so blessed and so very thankful.  And as we round off another year of marriage and begin another, I can't help but reflect on the previous year.  I can honestly say I have fallen even more in love with my husband.  How is that even possible??  Still trying to figure that one out...

Our first year was a year of discovering...discovering how the other one really functioned and operated alongside the other.  We had our moments...who am I kidding we STILL have our moments...but those moments look different now. Our first year was full of standing our ground and attempting to communicate effectively, which meant no yelling and no manipulating on my part - that's just WRONG, but it was hard for me!  I discovered so many lovely things about myself (please note sarcasm) - so very lovely that I couldn't wait to rid myself of them, and truly prayed weekly if not daily that Christ would have His way in my life and rid me of all those lovely things that didn't draw me closer to Him.

And over the past few years, Christ has truly been transforming my heart and pruning bits of me that just aren't lovely. My husband has learned how to speak truth into my life in such a loving way...and sometimes, if I'm honest, I hate him for it...just for a moment, and eventually I thank him for it in the end.  We have learned to be completely and utterly vulnerable together and we have created such a safe place to truly speak our minds and share our hearts, fully knowing that our love for each other is deeply rooted in Christ, and for that I am thankful.

If someone were to ask me what I appreciate most about our marriage I would simply state ...the way we communicate and the humility that permeates through it all.  Everything is out there...we know when the other is happy and when the other is mad.  We know when the other is disappointed and when the other is sad.  And like I said everything is out there, everything is discussed, and we truly hold nothing back and that's scary, and slightly overwhelming at times, but it's real and truly beautiful and I wouldn't want it any other way.

"We can survive without each other, but we may not thrive"...husband's final words as he boarded a plane to the Dominican Republic   I couldn't have said it better Peter - the Lord knew what He was doing when He brought us together.  We are different people from different countries with different cultures and different giftings, but somehow, by the true grace of God, it just works.  And I hope and pray God grants us many more years together!!

Xoxo,

Malia