how's married life

the marriage/engagement cycle is one that leads to such cliche questions from everyone around you.  when we first got engaged we were constantly asked "hows wedding planning?"  

of course you always answer like a sweet person and say "ohhh its going well, can't wait for the big day to be here" or something dumb like that that is a huge lie.  if you wanted to answer honestly it would sound something like "its miserable, its not a sweet time, it is completely overwhelming, i'm tired of deciding between twine or ribbon, my head hurts, i can't sleep, i need more xanax, etc. etc."  

so now that were married the common question that comes is "hey, how are you, how's married life?"  and how do we respond "oh its great, really its great."  sure marriage is great, but here's my answer.  my real answer.  my non fluffy answer.

it is great.  jonathan is wonderful.  i am glad we're married.  but more than anything it is an adjustment.  it is a process of relearning someone you thought you knew even after dating for 7 years.  its learning that the way you do things is not the only way to do things.  

ive started to learn that just because i've done things the way ive done them for 24 years doesn't mean that's the only or right way to do them.  i've started to learn that a man just thinks differently than a woman.  i've started to learn sanctification.

marriage is meant to sanctify jonathan and i both for God's glory.  God takes our weaknesses and bad qualities and shows them to us so blatantly clear in our faces and then challenges us to change so we can be the best spouse possible.  marriage is about adjustment and sanctification.

so that's marriage.  dirty dishes, dog crap on the floor, bloodshot eyes...laughing in bed at night until were convulsing and crying, falling asleep on the couch, and leaving sweet notes to wake up to.  that's marriage.

king james version

i don't read king james version of the bible.  i prefer the niv or the message.  they're easier for me to read.  i don't talk in thou's and thee and hast and things such as those.  i like to read in modern day talk.


with that said my husband reads king james version.  he's an old man in a little boy's body.  very fitting.


this past weekend i went to the beach with my family.  it's always good to be with everyone.  there's generally a lot of laughing, tv watching, sunburn, and sleeping.  there was a lot of that this weekend.  some of my very favorite times though are the times i spend with my nieces.


caroline, my oldest niece, is not a fan of going to sleep.  she doesn't like the idea of missing what everyone else is doing.  she also doesn't like to be by herself.  i can relate.  i never slept well.  90% of my childhood i slept on mom and dad's floor.  it just worked better for me.


so one night at the beach it was time for caroline to go to sleep.  there was the usual tears and unexcitement.  she went downstairs, and i went to take a shower.  when  i came back up caroline was on the couch.  hm.  looks like she persuaded her parents she was too sweet to sleep then.  


caroline ended up coming to sit with me for a little.  she found one of those tiny green bibles that the old men pass out in various places.  so she brought that to me and asked me to read.  yes.  you guessed it.  king james version.


being that caroline is little i don't want to shout "hell" or anything negative sounding by accident so i had to choose my passages carefully.  i had to choose ones i knew the words to so i could improvise.  so we flipped to psalm 139.


this was my favorite little time at the beach.  i read some and improvised modern day words for her.  she asked me to say a bible verse and she would say it after me.  you got that right - she asked ME to say a verse so SHE could repeat it.  that's the kind of girl she is.  


we started talking about the part that says i knit you together in your mother's womb.  pretty cool considering her mom has a baby in the womb right now.  it's amazing to me how much caroline gets things like this and wants to know more.  we finished psalm 139 and she was just hungry for more.


she decided she'd pick one more chapter for me to read.  she turned to the book of philemon.  not sure about you, but i don't regularly learn philemon.  i couldn't tell you the theme.  and i most certainly couldn't teach you philemon from king james version.


so we flipped back to psalm, learned some more verses, and caroline went to sleep.


i love that girl.  i love that she loves Jesus already.  i love teaching her, someone so excited to learn about Jesus.  she teaches me.