Thirty Years

Thirty years. Husband and wife. Living life together. Rejoicing together in our successes. Mourning together in our failures. God is the head of our home. I say that as though it is a simple thing. It is. And yet it is not. God is the reason for these thirty years. Our tiny little faith is transformed into a gigantic something that is unexplained, yet undeniably there and in control. How else do we explain the gift of four beautiful children? How do we explain two beautiful daughters-in-law that are the perfect help-mates for two of our sons? How do we explain three absolutely adorable grandchildren? How else do we explain thirty years? 

Our culture has become one that believes that everything is disposable. Everything. You do not like what you have? Throw it away. Are you not enjoying what you have? Move on. Is what you have no longer interesting to you? Find something else. Why do we do this? It seems like I am talking about "stuff", but really I am talking about people, relationships. I do not believe that every relationship is forever. I think that some people come into our lives for a period of time for a reason and then leave for a reason and that is healthy for us. I am talking about commitment relationships. You know, the ones that are not disposable. The ones that do not end. The ones that are "till death do us part" and you really mean it. 

Think about the research you do before buying a new mobile phone or buying a car or getting cable service or even deciding where to go on vacation. How much "research" do we do on the people in our lives? I am not talking about CIA stuff. I am talking about asking your other friends, your siblings, even your parents. Listen. Think about the impact they will have on the decisions You make for your life. If you think they may be your spouse, really do some daydreaming about married daily life. Spend time in groups so others can see you together and then ask for advice. Ask others that you trust, how they see you together. Do the work beforehand, the really hard work beforehand, and I do believe that the work after marriage will not be nearly as difficult. 

Think about all of the time that goes into planning a wedding. Really think about that. And the wedding itself only lasts for such a short time. It is just an event. Granted you make an announcement vowing to commit yourself to another person for the rest of your life! But all of the time and planning for this wedding and then this event is over. How much time though, do you prepare for marriage? That is what needs to be planned. Although how do you prepare for marriage? How do you plan for something that you have never done before? And no one else is you and your spouse, so no one else has done your marriage before, so no one else can tell you how to do it right either. So...there is no step-by-step manual. Now what? I think I have the answer. And it is the easiest and the hardest thing to do: every morning when you wake up, you decide that you are going to love your spouse "no matter what!" 

We have written our own marriage manual as we have lived out our married life. We have learned what works and what doesn't. Just like being parents. There are no real manuals for that either because every child is different. You learn to deal with each situation. Be flexible. Learn which battles are important. Learn which ones you are fighting just because you want to be right. Decide that being right isn't really all that important and being happy and content with loving someone and having someone love you is important. I am not talking about life and death decisions, I am talking trivial which side of the roll the toilet paper should unroll from decisions. I am just saying pick your battles and not everything can or should be a battle. You know, love your spouse. 

And so for thirty years today, I have been married to David. And almost every morning my first thought has been "I am going to love David today, no matter what." Most days it is easy, some days it is not. But all days it is worth it. Happy anniversary! I love you, David!

On Our Own

As of tomorrow, we will be totally "on our own" for the first time!

February Birthday Gift #1

I made a birthday gift using the Greek Cross Block. I will post a pic after it is gifted. Check out Quilter's Cache for a gazillion quilt block patterns!

Valentine Dress for Abby Grace

I made a dress for my husband's niece, Abby Grace, for Christmas. Unfortunately, it did not fit. So . . . I have made a dress for her for Valentine's Day.

Tiny Dinosaur

I made a small dinosaur to accompany our gift to our grandson to celebrate his 1st birthday.

I will post the rest of the gift after we give it to him at Saturday's party.