Our Vows-Then, Now, and Forever. Happy Anniversary!

"I knew I loved you in the early stages in our relationship, and as we have grown and faced new struggles, I love you even more now. I love you because you bring out the best in me. I love you because even when I’m angry, or sad, or being so stubborn that I’m determined not to smile, you can make me smile. I love you for your caring heart and compassion for everyone around you. I love you for challenging me, for making me try new things, and for pushing me to new limits that I never dreamed I would reach. I love you for always believing in my hopes and dreams, and never leaving my side as I reached for them. I love you for your faith, and for striving to be the best Christian and role model that you can be. I love you for all of this and more."

"Because I loved you then and now, I promise to you that I will always love you as we start our new journey as husband and wife. Because I love you for all these reasons, I promise to give the same. I promise to bring out the best in you. I promise that I will always honor you, cherish you, and be faithful to you. I promise to challenge you, make you try new things, and to push you to new limits. I promise to believe in your hopes and dreams, be right by your side to support you as your reach for them. I promise to strive with you to become better Christians and role models. I promise to stand by you, when life is wonderful and when life is hard. Because I love you, I promise you my love, my heart, and my world for the rest of my life."

My sweet husband:

It's so hard to believe that it has already been a year since we were married! I'm so thankful for this happy and very entertaining year of marriage. You have become more of a best friend to me than I ever expected to have in a best friend. You truly are the highlight of each and every day we have, and I'm so thankful that I get to come home to you.

I appreciate you more than you will ever know. You have always been so helpful and have always picked up the slack when I drop the ball. You are the best teammate and partner that I could have ever hoped for in a husband. Thank you for continuing to allow me to chase my dreams, and for supporting each of them, no matter how crazy they may seem. Thank you for continuing to allow me to keep my identity as my own person, and making my heart completely full. I still love you for your Christian faith, and to see how OUR faith together has grown as a married couple. Thank you for continuing to bring out the best in me.

I love you so dearly, and I know that God picked the perfect partner for me to share my life with. I have always heard that the first year of marriage is always the hardest, and I'm so thrilled that we sailed through our first year with ease and grace. I can't wait to see how wonderful our next 70 years are if our 1st was this incredible. I love you for being my home, my family, and my rock. You are, and always will be, my entire world.

I love you sweet boy!

Paige

Apologies

I am so sorry that I have been pretty much MIA this month.  My work schedule has gone INSANE, and I've been busting my rear to wrap up the month before our vacation next week, and help prepare for the summer program that will kick off as soon as I return.

On that note, I'm THRILLED that I will be on vacation in one week!  Jason and I are going to celebrate our anniversary at the place where we met just over 4 years ago.  I can't wait to get back to the beach and spend an entire week with just my love.  I'm not sure I will have the internet in our condo, so I will definitely have an "anniversary" post set for you all to enjoy on May 30.  

Please hang in there with me as I endure a final "end of the month" crazy week full of sessions with my kids, paperwork, and billing.  I'll be back to regular blogging soon, I promise!

Another Bible Verse on Love

Song of Solomon 2:16
My lover is mine, and I am his

Love for a Child

"A child can ask questions that a wise man cannot answer."

No romantic love can compare to loving a child. I'm not a mother yet, and will not likely be a mother anytime soon, but I love sweet Riley just as if she were my own. Her giggle makes me smile even on a rough day. She comes up with the craziest things to say that keep me laughing for days.

Although I love Riley to no end, it doesn't compare to the love she gives to me. My husband is truly the greatest man I could ever hope to marry, but no one makes me feel more loved than sweet Riley. My heart melts when she calls me "My Paige." Nothing is more precious than hearing Riley scream "LOVE YOU PAIGE" as she rides in her wagon down the street.

The love of a child is life's greatest blessing.

A Short Break from "Love Month"...

To promote a swap! Jess @ All-American Jess is hosting a summer swap! I'm signed up, and you should too!

Head over and sign up NOW!

Love in Laughter...

“Laugh as much as you breathe and love as long as you live.”

A Mother's Love

When you're down and troubled

and you need a helping hand

and nothing whoa nothing is going right.

Close your eyes and think of me

and soon I will be there

to brighten up even your darkest nights.

You just call out my name
and you know wherever I am
I'll come running oh yeah baby
to see you again.
Winter spring summer or fall
all you have to do is call
and I'll be there yeah yeah yeah.
You've got a friend.

If the sky above you
should turn dark and full of clouds
and that old north wind should begin to blow
Keep your head together and call my name out loud
and soon I will be knocking upon your door.
You just call out my name and you know where ever I am
I'll come running to see you again.
Winter, spring, summer or fall
all you got to do is call
and I'll be there, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Hey, ain't it good to know that you've got a friend?
People can be so cold.
They'll hurt you and desert you.
Well they'll take your soul if you let them.
Oh yeah, but don't you let them.

You just call out my name and you know wherever I am
I'll come running to see you again.
Oh babe, don't you know that,
Winter spring summer or fall,
Hey now, all you've got to do is call.

Lord, I'll be there, yes I will.

You've got a friend.

You've got a friend.

Ain't it good to know you've got a friend.

Ain't it good to know you've got a friend.

You've got a friend.

-Carole King/James Taylor

1 Corinthians 13

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails....And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

How often do we hear this verse? I've seen it on multiple wedding invitations, heard it in multiple sermons, and used it in many cards to my husband. 1 Corinthians 13 is definitely one of the most well known chapters in the Bible that focus on love.

How often do we sit and truly look at this chapter and soak it in? You'll notice that God never tells us that love is perfect. Love cannot be perfect, but it can be patient. Patience in love is what allows us to endure the "bad times" that we vow to be there through on our wedding days.

Love certainly never fails. We fail. We are human, failure does happen. As a wife, I have failed. With Jason as my husband, he has failed. However, our love has never nor will ever, fail. We must learn to look through our failures, and look back to our love to keep our marriages alive.

It would take multiple blog posts to fully examine this excerpt from 1 Corinthians 13, but I don't feel that I would do it justice. I urge you to read it, examine it, and make it alive in your own love. It may not be a love for a husband, or a boyfriend. It may be the love for your family, or for a very best friend. God never tells us that these verses apply to romantic love, or love within a marriage. Although cherished in a marriage, all of our love to everyone needs to be this way. Even when God tells us to love our enemies. "Love is patient."

No matter who you are loving today, or any day, love will never fail.

Children's View on Love

Some adorable quotes I have found by children in regards to love and marriage:

• "When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You know that your name is safe in their mouth."
• "Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs."
• "Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK."
• "Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen."
• "When you tell someone something bad about yourself and you're scared they won't love you anymore. But then you get surprised because not only do they still love you, they love you even more."
• "There are two kinds of love- Our love & God's love. But God makes both kinds of them. Love is important to God."
• "Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well."
• "Love is when mommy gives daddy the best piece of chicken."
• "Be a good kisser. It may make your wife forget that you never take out the trash."

Learning from Experience...and the Experience of Others

About a month before I got married, one of my best friends from high school made me the most precious book to use at showers and my ceremony. She created many pages with lots of wisdom and cute sayings about marriage. She also included a letter, that gave me a long list of advice on marriage that she had learned first hand. Some were sweet, some were hilarious, and some were extremely wise. That letter and book became one of the most precious and treasured gifts that Jason and I were given.

I pull that letter out from time to time and reread it, thinking about all how right she was on so many things. I wanted to share them with you, as well as offer my own learning experiences from my first year of marriage. I think that her thoughtfulness allowed Jason and I to understand a lot of things a lot more quickly than if she hadn't given us this gift. So here is to a list of many things I've learned, some on my own, some from the wisdom of others.

Marriage is definitely a beautiful thing, but it can be even more beautiful when you are willing to learn from your marriage (and your spouse) as you go.

Laughter is essential.

Don't do things in the first few weeks of marriage that you don't want to have as your regular chore. I never took out the trash and now Jason claims it as his job and I never had to say a word. Of course, it is nice to pitch in and help each other once in a while.

Blessed in the flexible (in the serious, non-dirty way of course.)

Don't have any expectations of the other without verbalizing them. Let the other know what they are up against.

Say thank you. Often. Nothing makes one more willing to help the other than a little appreciation.

If he does something to try to help, but doesn't do it right, don't be annoyed with him. Be grateful that he was willing to help in the first place.

Choose your battles.

Fight fair. Know what pushes your buttons, and let the other know. The buttons are things to avoid during a fight. Express your needs to get through the fight. For example, Jason learned the hard way to let me be alone and blow off steam before pushing me to talk things through. If I can't take 30 minutes to breathe, I often say things I will regret in 5 minutes.

You can never tell the other person that they are too cool to be your spouse.

Make the other feel lucky they married you, just like you feel lucky you married them.

Laugh at the little things and keep smiling. It does wonders for your attitude (and your abs!)

Remember why you decided to marry the other.

Make time to do things independently. Embrace a girl's night, or a guy's night.

Have a date night as often as you can. This can be a nice evening out to dinner, a walk around the block, or staying in watching movies and playing board games. Quality time together is essential.

It is easy to get wrapped up in the daily struggles of housework, careers, and other responsibilities. Take at least a few moments every day to hug.

Dance in your kitchen.

Don't change, be yourself. That's who your spouse fell in love with to begin with.

Keep your eyes wide open before the wedding, and half shut afterwards.

Stop keeping score. Just do as much as you possibly can for the other.

Let yourself learn from the other-after all, they are the one that brings out the best in you.

Talk. About everything.

Remember that your marriage is a triangle. If you both seek God, you will always meet in the middle.

Truest Love

I love you

Not only for what you are,

But for what I am

When I am with you.

I love you,
Not only for what
You have made of yourself,
But for what
You are making of me.

I love you
For the part of me
That you bring out;

I love you
For putting your hand
Into my heaped-up heart
And passing over
All the foolish, weak things
That you can't help
Dimly seeing there,

I love you because you
Are helping me to make
Of the lumber of my life
Not a tavern
But a temple.

And for drawing out
Into the light
All the beautiful belongings
That no one else had looked
Quite far enough to find

Out of the works
Of my every day
Not a reproach
But a song.

I love you
Because you have done
More than any creed
Could have done
To make me good.
And more than any fate
Could have done
To make me happy.

You have done it
Without a touch,
Without a word,
Without a sign.

You have done it

By being yourself.

Perhaps that is what

Being a friend means,

After all.

by Roy Croft

Time Flies on Cloud 9

Jason and I just entered the last month of our first year of marriage. I'm simply amazed that we are quickly arriving to our 1st anniversary.

This time last year, I was stressing over a guest list, certain friendships, preparing to move out of my parents home, and starting a new life. During all this stress and sadness, the only thing that made those months before the wedding worth it was my love for my husband. I thought of what my love for him truly meant as we approached the day that would change our whole lives.

This May, I've decided that I want to dedicate this whole month to love. I want to talk to you all about God's love, my marriage, and a whole list of other things. I want your participation too! If you have any ideas or thoughts about things you may want to see on here regarding love, let me know!