So here we are, MARRIED! I cannot express enough how beautiful and joyful our wedding day was! I will forever remember how perfectly everything and everyone came together and how much love was felt that day.
But truth be told, every time I hear the question “how’s married life?” a piece of my heart just sighs and doesn’t want to answer.
[Do I smile? Can I smile? Do I say it’s wonderful or great? Do I go into all of the details of our situation? If I do, maybe they don’t really want to know or care. Then comes the ‘oh, how unfortunate’ or ‘I’m so sorry, that must be so hard’ or ‘distance makes the heart grow fonder.’ Really? How convincing can I sound? What do I do?]
Yes, I get it. It’s not quite ideal (or natural) to get married, spend a week in Jamaica feeling on top of the world…and then spend 4 months apart. And it’s only been 2 weeks…that’s it. We don’t get to enjoy the first few months of marriage happily together in our newlywed home. We don’t get to start cooking dinners together, going on nightly walks, or finding our new “married routine.” We don’t get to use our new wedding gifts or go on spontaneous date nights. Instead, we get to encourage each other through text messages and prayer. We get to look forward to facetime and phone calls. We get to update daily countdowns until the next time we can see each other face to face. And we get to miss each other a whole, whole lot and appreciate more and more every second that we DO spend together.
As pitiful as I have felt over the past 2 weeks, I have learned now more than ever that I cannot do anything on my own. My plans are nothing compared to His, and only by His grace and guidance can I do any of this. Where I am weak and discouraged, my husband has been strong and encouraging. And through him, I often see Christ’s unwavering love. I am forever grateful for technology and plane tickets (3 more weeks!) and for the strength found through this experience. *Please do forgive me for any of the whining, frowns, complaints, or grumpy moods recently…I’m working on it!*
