When It Rains, It Pours!

As has been said of me before, I'm kind of a feast or famine kind of gal. Bloggorhea or blogstipation. (Mostly, I think I just don't want to go to bed! :)

But I just wanted to say how much I love my husband. He works SO HARD. He is one of the most dedicated people I have ever met. I have been REPEATEDLY impressed with his dedication to this movie, for instance. There have been so many times when my resolve has weakened, I've tried to get him to slack, but he has just kept trudging along. 

I am also so impressed with the sacrifices that he is willing to make for our family. We have a lot of decisions to make right now --- HE has a lot of decisions to make right now. --- He is what a real Man and father should be. He is our hero --- Mine --- His girls'. He is willing to go out and slay the dragons everyday to allow me to stay at home with our children, to give us a warm and comfortable home to live in. To provide for our needs and wants. I love him so much. 

Growing up is an interesting transition. I'm not sure when it happens, but I remember being a teenager and realizing at some point that I didn't really WANT to grow up. It's nice to only really have to worry about you. (I think I was a very unconventional and selfish teenager) I remember looking ahead into the future and dreading the responsibility. I remember thinking that doing the same thing everyday would be so boring --- that it seemed a little like death! :) (Okay, I'm being a bit melodramatic, but I think you get the point.) I couldn't imagine my selfish wants being swallowed up in service and love for someone else.

I really like to listen to Dr. Laura ---- any of you who talk to me on any kind of regular basis know this (and that I really like Glenn Beck, but we'll save that for another day! :) --- and she is a huge advocate for waiting to get married until you are in your late twenties. That success rates in marriage are much higher -- yada, yada, yada. Well, I've spent lots of brainless hours in the monotony of my days thinking about this. Nels and I got married when I was only TWENTY years old. Nels was only 22! We were SO young and stupid. I owe the entire success of our relationship and our marriage to the Lord. We were both WAY to stupid and naive at that point in our lives to ACTUALLY know what we were getting into -- to know HOW to choose a partner that would be compatible. The Lord DEFINITELY had a hand in it. I could not have chosen someone who would fit me more perfectly than my Nels. He is my match in every way. --- BUT --- even "perfect" marriages fail. What makes the difference? Dr. Laura talks about how later in your twenties, you know more of who you are, more of what you want and where you're headed, and you have a firmer grasp of what and who will be best for you.

I've come to a lot of conclusions about what I think is the difference. About how two stupid kids could get married when they are barely adults themselves and be happy - and actually make it. The examples that we grew up with in our homes, our religion and views on marriage and the family, our own emotional maturity --- what have you. There are many and I'm not going to expound ------ BUT (and here's the point that this long disjointed post is getting to) I just want to say . . . everyone in the world can tell you that it's important to know who you are before you get married, to have an idea of where you're headed and what's important . . . (and it IS - to an extent) BUT it has been such a joy to find all of those things out WITH my husband. We have and are making that journey together. We are shaping who we are and how we view this world TOGETHER and that makes me so happy!

I've watched Nels repeatedly make sacrifices for our little family. And then I look at myself and see that in different ways, I do the same. The great thing is, that somehow it doesn't feel like a sacrifice. It just feels like joy.