Our Anniversary

Yesterday was our anniversary.  

Great timing being so close to the weekend and all.  Even though we don't technically do stuff on 'anniversaries' - we still acknowledge the date & our life together.

LOVE is a strange thing, it grows the longer you're together.  It grows into a deeper more meaningful bond....or at least it's supposed to.   I read somewhere that 'a true relationship is two un-perfect people refusing to give up on each other ' - & that is what I've learned after years of being together.

Like many marriages, ours has it's ups & downs. So, keeping it together requires effort on both our parts.  It's never a forced effort, but an effort that comes about from love & a desire to make it work. It's never an "I have to make this work",  or "I feel responsible, and have to do this" - but instead an "I love my spouse, and I want to do this." 

Looking back now, we both know our faith has played a huge part in the bettering of our marriage.  Knowing John 4:19 - “We love because He first loved us" & understanding the love of Christ has been essential to our marriage.  We must love each other like Jesus loved us, meaning we need to love in an unselfish way & put our spouse first.  YES, that has been very challenging because by default we all want to be first.  It is an "I" kind of world & we are also part of it.  However, coming to know God, we are aware of His love for us, and his laws.... & that changes many things.  The "I 's" we once valued, slowly disappear.  My husband and I are always striving to be patient, gentle, kind, and self-sacrificing....and most importantly available. We love to spend time together & always make sure to do so.  In all we do, we try find the joy.  YES, we do fail at times, but we pull ourselves back up.  In fact, God has an interesting way of reaching us when we fall, and He is always on time.

We pray together & read together - and one of the sites we enjoy visiting called 'Fierce Marriage' - written by a Christian couple, (Ryan & Selena) who say "they're just a guy and a girl who are learning how to build a marriage that is centered on Christ."  This site is truly inspiring!  We've learned many things, and recently I was deeply moved by an article Ryan from Fierce Marriage wrote called - "5 Phrases I tell My Wife, and I hope she Believes Me".

This article almost brought me to tears, as it dove into the honest expressions of a loving husband toward his wife, in the hopes that she would believe his words.  My husband is never short on expressing his love toward me in words, in fact, that is how I fell in LOVE with him.  This anniversary - we will not be taking any fancy trips (we rarely do) or getting any fancy cards or dinners, but instead committing ourselves to the love God has given us & expressing that love toward one another.

I love you husband.




Have a nice weekend everyone!
-post by jen ramos