Worth Fighting For

I was the first of my friends to get married.  We got married young.  It was right for us.  We knew we wanted to commit to each other, so why wait?

As I get older, I've watched friends get married.  I've also watched helplessly as friends' marriages have crumbled.  As my friend was saying tonight, "We have no idea what others' marriages really look like because we aren't there experiencing it with them.  Even the people in the marriage have differing views of the relationship."

I've listened to too many people recently talk about how unhappy they are in their marriages.  It breaks my heart. 

Jonathan and I aren't perfect. No one is perfect. Marriage involves two broken people vowing before God to commit their lives to loving the other person through all the brokenness, pain, hurt, and crap that will happen. 
Knowing that we won't always agree.
Knowing that we won't always like what the other person chooses to do or say.   
Knowing that we will make mistakes.
Knowing that we will still sin.
Knowing that our bodies will not stay the same.
Knowing that we won't always be in the mood.
Knowing that it will take effort to be able to live happily ever after. 
Knowing the person you marry will have the potential (and probably will) hurt us more than anyone else in this world because we are that close.

Knowing all these things and still choosing to fight for the oneness that God created marriage to be.

Through intimacy with another person, like intimacy with God, our weaknesses are revealed. Our imperfections and sin can become obvious.  Our need for something greater than just ourselves and our selfish desires becomes evident.

I believe Jesus came to redeem. In Him there is hope. He is a God of miracles. We all need the miraculous to overcome ourselves and our selfishness.

I want a great marriage.  I'm choosing to fight for it. Even when things seem good, we still work at it.  We stay on-guard knowing things can seem to crumble quickly.

Fight for it.

We get lost in ourselves and miss the joy that comes from true intimacy. 

It's worth the peace.
It's worth the understanding.
It's worth the fun.
It's worth the giggles.
It's worth the pleasure.
It's worth the trust.
It's worth the respect.
It's worth the love.
It's worth the commitment.

"I Suck!"

I realize when I say things often because Sarah starts to say them.  So when I started hearing Sarah say, "Sucks!" I became more aware of this word slipping out of my mouth.  I then realized how often I say "I suck."  How sad, I don't want Sarah to think/say that about herself.  Um . . . so do I really think that about myself?  If I'm saying that to myself, I must mean it, right?  I'm not perfect, I know that, but do I really think I suck?  I do not suck.  I make sucky choices but I do not suck.

I am redeemed.

I am a daughter of The King.

I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

I am God's workmanship.

I need to start seeing myself as God sees me.  I need to stop the lie that I suck from perpetuating itself in my attitude throughout the day.  I don't want that to be something I pass on to my daughters.

When I started to combat that lie, I seemed to accomplish more.  I found myself handling life more peacefully and joyfully again.

Once again, I find freedom in truth.