Not Valentine's Day, but.......

Have I mentioned lately how much I love my husband? Not only is he a wonderful husband and an excellent father, but he is my very best friend. We have been married almost 13 years, and while I would like to say they have all been simply blissful, that is not the truth. We fuss and fight just like any other couple. In the early years, we would yell and scream and basically make fools of ourselves. Then came the pouting and the stomping around the house and the door slamming. Thankfully, now most disagreements are settled with only slightly raised voices and minor pouting :)

There was a time not so long ago however when I really didn't think we were gonna make it together. We were like sandpaper against each other...nothing made either of us happy...we spent a lot of time not really talking or spending time together. We sort of coexisted in the way that roommates do, but we were not really partners.

I am not sure what really changed things, although a near tragic situation that arose certainly didn't help. It wasn't a sudden change, more of a softening of hearts that occurred. I learned to be more tolerate, he learned to be more attentive,and all in all things began to improve. Fast forward a year to our Tres Dias weekends, when God totally melted our hearts and put everything in perspective for us both. That was a painful process but it was so worth the journey! I remember when I came home after my weekend, we just talked all night long, looking right into each others eyes. We cried, we laughed, and we discovered a love that had never been there before. It was an amazing thing that happened between us...

We discovered that putting GOD first and each other second really made all the difference in the world. I stopped putting him down, and he started listening to me more. It made me feel so unvalued when he would only half listen to me spilling my heart while he watched TV. He would be so hurt when I would make snide and hurtful comments about him to my friends....often in front of him.

We learned a lot about what God can do in a marriage IF YOU ALLOW HIM TO DO IT. It has been so much better for us. We are spouses....partners....friends...doing this crazy thing called life together and loving every precious moment we have.

Valentine's day is nice,and although we usually end up spending it apart due to his job, I prefer to think of every day as a day to celebrate out love and our friendship. I thank God for opening my eyes before I lost something very precious.