Love. How deep is it? What do we do with it?

Ok, I consider myself a person with the ability to write.  Yet, most times I have writers block.  It's odd because my brain runs a mile a minute but when I try to sit down and write/type, it all comes out messy...

So with that in mind, here it goes!

Thursday, Mark & I celebrated 10 years of marriage.  Now, let me tell you when we first were engaged & then in the honeymoon stage, I thought everything was always going to be easy.  Haha!

Not true!

Engagement pictures

I have grown more in the past 10 years than I EVER thought was possible. (Random Side note: this coming from a person who, as a kid, never thought a basic countertop microwave could be updated/improved. ha!)  Anyway, marriage is tough stuff people.  Mark was wise enough from the very beginning to let me know and I quote, "This is going to be tough, Lori."  He knew what I didn't know from the start & he wasn't afraid to say it up front.  At the time, I thought he was crazy...haha!  Now, I know exactly what he was talking about.  I had to slowly come out of my fantasy world to realize the truth about what marriage really is.  So here's a glimpse of our journey over the past 10 years:

 

Marriage.  Love.  Selflessness.  Growth. There have been times when I didn't "like" my hubby.  It's not because I have ever felt that I didn't love Mark.  It's all the insecurities, immaturity and idiosyncrasies.  You take two people who have those different things (which we ALL do) & have them live together for the rest of their lives, well, let's just say LOVE better flourish!!

Here I am reminded of the bible verse on love.  Don't check out on me now.  I truly believe this verse sets the bar to a level where we can build an understanding of how to truly Love in this life.

"Love is patient and kind;
love does not envy or boast;
it is not arrogant or rude.
It does not insist on its own way;
it does not rejoice at wrongdoing,
but love rejoices with the truth.
Love bears all things
believes all things,
hopes all things,
endures all things.
Love never ends
1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Take a moment to honestly think about all of these ways to love.  As I go down each one, I'm either thinking...umm, I'm horrible at that OR I'm ok on that one OR hmm, I wonder how Mark thinks I do because I think I could definitely do better.

I have to admit, I've lost my patience more times than I care to count and said many unkind things that I didn't mean but I let my emotions take over.  At times for me, it's what I don't say that gets me in trouble  ;)

When it says love bears all things, I really believe it means you let go & allow yourself to grow.  You let go & allow your spouse to grow.  There will be plenty of times when you won't agree on something.  So when that moment comes, a decision one way or the other will be made.  Now, whether that decision was correct or not, well, that's when you have to figure out how to move forward.  And you bear, hope, believe and endure through it.

Memories! 

2004

 

2013

After 10 years + 2 days of marriage, I can truly say that this verse speaks volumes to me.  It reminds me that I don't have it all together.  But at the same time, I'm not shutting myself off from learning the truth behind it.

Life continues to challenge us.  Seasons change.  At the end of the day, I am very glad that I get to share my days with my hubby, Mark.  He gets me.  He allows me to grow.  He encourages me to grow & vice versa!

~Lori