• Marriage

    Jesus>Marriage

    November 4, 2016

    I can’t believe it’s November and Christmas is right around the corner. I’m really excited for the holiday season. I want this season to be filled with growth in my relationship with Jesus. I’ve been struggling for the past few months with my relationship with God, which I have shared a little bit about here on the blog. I want to keep striving through this tough season and keep seeking His face above all else.

    Getting married changes so much about your life. I know this probably seems to be the only thing I blog about lately but it’s honestly been one of the main things on my mind since May. It’s a wonderful thing in many instances. You get to live with your best friend. You always have someone to hang out with. You have someone to lean on in the hard times. It’s a time that’s full of new beginnings and new joys that you never knew were possible.

    But I want to share with you guys that marriage isn’t all roses and butterflies. I want to bring some light to marriage to anyone who may be reading this and thinking, “If only I could find someone to marry…”. Like I said marriage is a gift, and a great gift at that, but it is also hard and demanding at times. I don’t want anyone believing the lie that once you get married then you will be truly happy, or once I get a boyfriend, or once I get a boy to like me. The best thing that ever happened to me wasn’t getting married. It was realizing that the God of the universe loved me enough to die for me. Knowing I have worth to the God that created everything I see is such a humbling and awesome thing. Don’t lose sight of this.

    I used to think that once Tommy and I were married everything would be perfect. I knew I’d still have struggles and hard times but I thought that they wouldn’t be so bad because we’d be together. And hear me out, this just isn’t true. Trials are trials no matter if you’re single, married, divorced, or widowed. Each trial is unique in it’s own way and the only thing that really gets you through it, is to seek God’s face above all else. Seek God’s face in the midst of the trial and that’s when you will find true joy. I read so many blog posts about this same idea many times before I was married and I never learned until I walked it myself. If I can spare one person from believing this lie, that will be enough for me.

    If it is your desire to be married, keep pressing in and asking the Lord for this, but don’t believe that only then will you be truly happy. Being married can be hard, just like being single can be hard. Resting in knowing God is for us is what will get us through anything. Let me know how I can pray for you specifically if this is something you might be struggling with. It is close to my heart because it was and probably still is in some ways a personal struggle of mine as well and would love to encourage you along the way!

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  • Coffee Dates,  Faith,  Life

    Let’s Have Coffee || Vol. 1

    July 11, 2016

    If we were having coffee I’d share with you about how since becoming a wife I have learned how therapeutic it is for me to make dinner at night. It’s just a great way for me to be able to serve my husband in a way that I really enjoy. Tonight I made chicken cutlets and mashed potatoes YUM.

    If we were having coffee I’d be drinking this delicious stuff. We got a small pack from Tommy’s cousin in a pack of stuff for the wedding and it is absolutely the best coffee I’ve ever had. I wish coffee didn’t have so much caffeine because if that was the case I’d be drinking it all day long.

    If we were having coffee I’d share that we just bought a new bed this weekend and it has been the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. Hahah just kidding. But really. New beds are the greatest thing ever. I’ve never had one before so I am just on cloud 9.

    If we were having coffee I’d confess that I feel like I’m going to be struggling with this rededication of my faith and bible reading. I am still going to try to commit to reading as much as possible but I just can’t seem to keep my desire up like I used to. It makes me sad because I know I need to stay close to my Father’s loving voice. I just wish it wasn’t such a struggle lately.

    If we were having coffee I’d also confess that I’ve been struggling with anxiety lately. It may sound silly but I struggle with hypochondria sometimes and every ache and pain I get worried is cancer or something else that is going to kill me. I think this is partially because I have realized just how much God is in control and sometimes I struggle that He is really good. I’ve made some progress this weekend though and I’m hoping my rededication to reading my bible and staying close to God’s voice will help a lot.

    If we were having coffee we’d probably end up talking about work because that seems to always come up when you hang out with someone that you care about. I would let you in on what is going on lately – that I am still working a temp job and haven’t worried about whether or not there will be a job for me come the end of the contract because I know that God has my back. I know that He will take care of me one way or another.

    If were having coffee I’d love to know what’s new in your life, what your current fav drink is, and what your struggles are currently and where you’ve made progress because that’s what friends are for.

    PS I have my wedding pictures back and I will be posting soon, can’t wait!!

    I am linking up with Amber and Erin for a monthly coffee date. Join in with us.

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  • Faith,  Marriage

    Why Marriage Is Not The Happily Ever After We Thought It Was

    September 17, 2015

    Now I’m not married or even engaged for that matter so I’m not sure if I’m truly qualified to even write this post but I’m going to attempt it anyway. It’s obvious based off my other posts that Tommy and I are pretty serious and that we even have been talking about getting married a lot lately. We both know that we want to marry each other, it’s just a matter of time and letting the details work themselves out. As with anything new that I am about to embark on I have been reading AS MUCH as I can about marriage because I’m the type of person who always wants to be prepared. My parents are also divorced and I want to learn as much as I can how to have a healthy, happy marriage since it’s not what I grew up around or know much about.

    The Most Important Thing I’ve Learned:

    Marriage is not meant to make you happy. Wait, what? Isn’t that what’s taught – no drilled into our heads since we were old enough to talk? Isn’t that what every Disney movie (with the exception of Frozen – Hallelujah!) is about? If you search hard enough, or wait around long enough, prince charming will come find you. And when he does, it’s going to be glorious and there won’t be anything left to worry about. You’ll have your happily ever after and everything will be perfect.

    But what happens when you wake up in the real world, next to a sinner – like yourself – and your prince charming does something you never would have imagined he would do? What happens when you’ve run into an issue in your marriage just two weeks in and you’re arguing all the time? Do you just give up because this isn’t what you thought married life was supposed to be like?

    I hope not. I hope you choose to fight more for your marriage than you fight with your spouse. I hope you are able to swallow your pride and apologize when you’re wrong. But more than that I hope you forgive – I hope you forgive even when you don’t want to, even when your spouse did something you thought you never could forgive them for. Because isn’t that what marriage is truly about?

    God gave us the gift of marriage to show us the beauty behind His love for us. It’s not meant to make us happy, it’s meant to make us holy. When we choose to get married, we are choosing to put someone’s needs before our own and sacrifice ourselves for another person. We’re choosing to put their happiness ahead of ours. We’re choosing to become more like Jesus. No wonder marriage isn’t the happily ever after we thought it would be. This is no easy task – I struggle with it already and I’m not even married yet.

    The most amazing part of marriage to me is the grace were expected to give to our spouses. When we say “I do”, we’re committing to extend grace through anything, no matter what. We’re expected to stare straight at our spouse’s weaknesses, the same weakness that have hurt us and say “Nope I refuse to leave, I’m staying and I’m still choosing to love you”. And the greatest part of it all is that we’re expected to do all this because Jesus has already done it all for us – and more!

    He’s looking at you right now saying “You – the messy, broken you that you don’t even like.. I want you. I want that part of you. Bring it to me and confess the brokenness – only I can heal you and I WANT to, more than you want to be healed. Come to me and I will give you rest.”

    This is why marriage is so glorious! Because we were made to reflect that beauty. We get to show that grace to another person – that even though you’re messy and even though you hurt me – I still love you and I still am staying no matter what. We’re set up in the perfect place to really put on display Christ’s love to not only our spouses but to the world around us and this is so so much better than any happily ever after the movies display for us.

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