We were actually blessed to celebrate twice! My mom watched Julia one night before our actual anniversary, since we weren't sure whether or not we'd get to with residency orientation stuff. We went out to dinner and saw The Hunger Games. Then, on the day of, Aaron's mom and sister were actually in town, so they watched Julia while we went out to dinner again, and saw the movie Now You See Me. Both evenings were such treats! It's not too often that we get to go out just the two of us, and we really relished it.
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| Our delicious steak dinners. |
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| Love him. |
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| Outside after the movie! |
I feel so blessed to be in such an incredibly happy marriage. We had a pretty smooth, happy dating relationship and engagement, but, honestly, once we got married, everything became a million times easier. Any struggles that we had in our relationship seemed to melt away and stay away. We were finally free to totally pour ourselves out for one another, and it was bliss. No more trying to juggle our separate lives, separate homes. No more stress in trying to discern God's will for our vocations (since even engagement, we felt, was a final time of openness to God's will for our relationship). No more saying good night or goodbye (we hardly ever had to say goodbye for 2 years, actually, since we spent pretty much all day, every day together for the first two years of marriage). Finally, our life together WAS our life.
We are so blessed that, for us, marriage has been easy. Of course, life has its challenges. We've had crazy times, and we've had sad times. But, our relationship is a constant, a rock. Aaron's love and support helps me through the crazy times, and bears me up through the sad times. I am constantly amazed that God has chosen such a perfect helpmate for me in Aaron, and such a perfect helpmate for Aaron in me. Where he is weak, I am strong, and where he is strong, I am weak. This complementarity is so good for our souls. I marvel at the ways God is using each of us to become better versions of ourselves by being schooled in each others' virtues. Our daily prayer for our marriage is that God will help us grow together toward Him.
Aaron is such an amazing husband. He always makes me feel like the most beautiful person on earth. He cares for me with so much tenderness. He is so patient with all my shortcomings, and builds me up when I am down. Aaron is incredibly supportive of me in all aspects of my life. He encourages me in my faith and is my partner in prayer, my accountability in my spiritual life. He supports me in my parenting by being the most wonderful, involved, present father, and by being on the same page with me for our goals in raising Julia. Aaron also supports me in my call to medicine. It would be so much easier for him if I stayed home with Julia or had a less demanding job. Since Aaron's job, too, is so demanding, I could do more for him and for our home if I weren't stretched so thin. However, Aaron believes God has called me to medicine, too, and wants me to continue on the path God has laid out for me. He is proud of me in my work, believing that I make a difference in my ministry to patients through my compassion, enthusiasm, and intellect. I can't tell you how much knowing that gives me confidence to continue on this long, difficult career path. The support we lend each other is so crucial to our happiness in our marriage.
And marriage is also just so incredibly fun. We've had so much joy. Our children, of course, are the crown jewels of our marriage. We have a saint in heaven who prays for us, and a beautiful, spirited child on earth who fills our days with so much love and laughter. We've traveled together and had so many crazy adventures together. We talk about books, movies, news, ethics, medicine, art, religion, life. We read together, play board games and video games together, watch TV shows together, cook meals and eat together. We go to events, stores, museums, parks. We build community with friends together. We pray and worship together. There's nothing we love better than spending time with one another. I still feel like a kid in a candy shop that I get to live with my best friend in the whole wide world and spend every day of my life with him! When I stop and think about it, it still feels like the unbelievable (almost guilty) pleasure it was when we first got married. How did we get so lucky? Of course, the answer is that it isn't luck. It's God's will. God's holy, perfect will. What a beautiful plan God had, and continues to have, for us! We are incredibly blessed.
Thank you, God, for these past four years of marriage! I pray that we are blessed with many, many more!
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