Thankful Thursday: Marriage

How’s married life?

It’s the question that’s apparently burning in everyone’s mind. Or at least, it’s the question that everyone is asking us.

It’s also the question I’m never exactly sure how to answer.

Because, really, it isn’t that much different than life before we were married.

Except in a couple of ways.

First, we took almost two weeks worth of honeymoon–which meant that we experienced the normal break in routine that vacations cause.

But the second and most significant difference is that I don’t go home at night.

Which is pretty significant, if you think about it.

This week I’m thankful…

…for an early wedding
Yes, we planned an early wedding for entirely selfish reasons. And you know what? I’m awfully glad we did. I think every couple should. You’re going to be exhausted enough on your wedding night–don’t compound the issue by not even getting to your hotel before midnight.

…for a quick move
When we realized that it was, um, snowing in our hotel room, Daniel gave the front desk a call. They had us transferred to a new room within a half hour, enabling us to complete our little getaway without a hitch.

…for getting through packing
Packing for our honeymoon was stressful. We had three days in Wichita between our little getaway and our honeymoon. We worked and when I got home, I did laundry from our wedding week. Laundry was still drying on the line in the basement until Friday, which meant we didn’t get to packing for the honeymoon until Friday night. We selected clothing and arranged it into our suitcases. We rearranged. We sat on the suitcases. We rearranged some more. I cried. It took forever. But in the end, we got it done and got to bed with four hours to sleep before we had to leave for the airport.

…for afternoon naps
Daniel had explored a number of options to keep us busy in Charleston–but we didn’t set anything in stone. We wanted to have plenty of flexibility. I definitely appreciated that when we came back from the beach on Sunday. I was exhausted, so we took a nap. I also appreciated it on Monday when we returned from a walking tour of Old Charleston. Once again, I was exhausted–and we took a nap. I’m so thankful for Daniel’s willingness to bear with my tiredness and let me nap several afternoons during our honeymoon.

…for rambles with my best friend
When you go to a place like Charleston, people want to know what you saw, what you did, what you ate. But my favorite part of our honeymoon had little to do with Charleston. My favorite moments of our honeymoon were walking through the I’on Swamp Interpretive Trail, up the Avenue of the Oaks at the Boone Hall Plantation, and through Fort Moultrie. I loved these times, not because of the places (although they were neat enough), but because I was walking with and talking with and laughing with my best friend.

…for settling into routines
Routines are pretty important to me. They’re important for my physical, mental, and emotional well-being. Nevertheless, the nature of my move, of my living situation, and of wedding planning meant that I haven’t had routines in place since the beginning of the year. These last couple of weeks at home have been wonderful, settling back into those routines that keep me sane.

…for God’s mercies, new every morning
Daniel and I continue to be sinners. Now, we’re sinners who live together. Living with Daniel exposes my heart, it magnifies the sin in me, like a long unexamined gem now put beneath a microscope. I have become acutely aware of my selfishness, my pride, my self-righteousness. Marriage exposes my sinfulness. But inasmuch as my sin is magnified, God is magnified still more. For God’s mercy greets both Daniel and I each morning. God’s mercy teaches us to love one another. God’s mercy enables us to talk through difficulties, to hold our tongues from criticism, to turn to Him when we’re hurt.

God has been gracious in giving us each other–and He is merciful in keeping us through the first few weeks of this lifelong journey that is marriage.