Marriage

We bought this chalkboard from an artist at the Portland Saturday Market as a souvenir for ourselves. At least once a week, I hope to write what I'm grateful for on the board as a reminder to praise God and appreciate the little things more.

Today I am thankful for my marriage. I didn't know it then, but five years ago I married an incredible guy. I've learned so much about him over the years and am sure to learn more as we continue to evolve as people and as a couple.

Our marriage hasn't been perfect. We've encountered intense struggles and at times I've wanted to run away from it all. However, I am thankful for every struggle. I praise God for our battle with infertility because I think this is what our marriage needed. We needed something to thrust us closer to our heavenly Father and to each other. Our marriage is stronger today than it was two years ago. We still have much to learn and much to struggle with, but I'm looking forward to that journey.

I feel blessed to have couples in our lives who have taught us what a healthy marriage looks like: my parents and Nate's parents have taught us perseverance, Amy and Pat Nebesniak have taught us what it means to sacrifice and how to be incredible parents, our old friends Shane and Erin Melenbacker and our new friends Drew and Amy Sharp--have given us a glimpse of what a God-honoring marriage looks like.

Marriage is a blessing not to be thrown away, a commitment that shouldn't be broken. Today I'm thankful for my marriage, for married couples who have coached us in our own marriage, and for my beautiful husband.