7 years ago...

Yesterday was my 7 year anniversary... 

WOW! I still can't believe it has been so long. I have know him now for 10 years!

I have learned so many things about marriage and the roles of the husband and the wife during these last 7 years. Here is to name a few:

1. Everyone always told me that the first year of marriage is the hardest. WRONG. At least for me the hardest year was the 2nd year. The first year we were all about learning each other and making each other happy. The second year we knew each other very well and we also knew what buttons to push that would make the other mad. HAHA. Yes, one of our biggest fights was a wrestling match that started because my husband was spraying the cat with water and I told him to stop and he wouldn't. Then he started being a "wise guy" and sprayed me with water. Ya, IT DID NOT GO WELL AFTER THAT! HAHA.

2. "Love is not a feeling, it's a choice. You must wake up every day and choose to love your husband." This was advice I had on a little notecard from my bridal shower. BEST ADVICE EVER! So many people think marriage is about feeling LOVE and then they think when they run out of the feeling, it's time to move on to divorce. Our love is not everlasting, only God's love is everlasting so if we base our marriage on his love and not our own, then our marriage will last. We have to wake up and choose to love our husband EVERY DAY.

3. PRAYER. I pray for my husband all the time. I believe the most powerful prayer a husband can receive is that of his wife's. Don't be afraid to pray that God will spark up passion in your relationship. Pray for his job, that God will bring favor over his life. And also pray that God gives him wisdom to lead your family to where he wants you to go.

4. Commitment. I get so annoyed nowadays with everyone and their mom not committing to anything. Commitment is work, marriage is work, success in ANYTHING you do in life, takes work. If you don't commit to your job, its not going to work. If you don't commit to school, it's not going to work. If you don't commit to raising your children right, its not going to work. Same goes for your marriage.

5. Date Nights are a must! I don't care what you have going on in your life, if your not dating your husband on a regular basis how do you expect for your relationship to grow? Take time out of your week for just you two by seeing a movie or going out for a simple dinner.

6. CARE. It's amazing how your husband can tell if you genuinely care about him. When he walks through the door of your house after he's worked a hard day at work, do you ever just ask him how his day went? About the 4th year of my marriage I realized that I have to stop thinking about myself and more about my husband. HA ya, it took me that long. I'm pretty stubborn, and before that I was working a full time job so it was crazy hard to juggle marriage and work. BUT, WOW! I can't even begin to describe to you the complete change in my husband's attitude and love towards me when I made it a point EVERYDAY to stop and listen to my husbands day, to clean up his shoes he left on the ground instead of yelling at him to pick them up. Challenge yourself to take time everyday for your husband, I'm sure he will notice even the little things. 

Those are just some of the marriage lessons I've learned throughout the years.

My parents have been married 28 years, his parents and been married 29 years and both my grandparents never divorced, married 50+ years.

DIVORCE is NOT in my vocabulary and with the help of God, I will passed down to my future children the legacy of a healthy marriage that was passed down to me.

Happy Anniversary to the Love of my Life and My Best Friend!