Six months ago today, I walked down the aisle of our childhood church to a wonderful guy, and we’ve been joyfully adventuring into marriage since. Learning real love; learning about ourselves, about each other. These past six months have been rich, and I’ve learned a good bit:
THAT WORDS ARE MY LOVE LANGUAGE
Learning each others’ love language has been challenging and fun.
FORGIVENESS + A SHORT-TERM MEMORY
Marriage is a relationship of two forgivers. I’ve learned to have a short-term memory when it comes to the trivial happenings that may disappoint me or hurt my feelings. Quick to forgive, quick to choose grace. This obviously goes a lot better when I invite the Lord’s help. When I ask for the help to forgive easily, He gives is, and I can tangibly feel the strength + love building in me.
HOW MUCH I ENJOY COOKING
In college I had a simple diet. Apart from meals out or roommate dinners, my at-home cooking endeavors were simple and pretty mediocre. Alas, I get into marriage and find I really enjoy it! I like finding new recipes, experimenting, putting things together, etc. It’s a fun activity for us to do together (because J loves to cook), and I’m thankful for the passion/interest God graciously decided to give me. Turns out I’m not too sh
abby, according to my husband. :)
HOW FUN MARRIAGE IS
Plain and simple. Living with your best friend — a most amazing design by God.
What I haven’t learned (but trying to)…
CLEANING DOESN’T HAVE TO BE DONE IMMEDIATELY
I’m a go-getter. Like all personality traits, it has its pros and cons sometimes. It’s okay if the dishes sit in the sink for a little bit; it’s okay if the house isn’t always picked up and/or spotless. It’ll get done eventually. Hallelujah.
We’re continually learning how to share life together. We’re learning the art of creating a life with another person: when to forgive, when to be honest, when to be vulnerable, when to listen. Thanks be to God.
Congratulations on six months of marriage! You are right on with these. Thanks for sharing what you’ve learned! During pre-marriage preparation, people tell you how much hard work marriage is, and I’m so grateful that people tell that truth, but I think they often leave out how much FUN marriage is. OF course, a lot of that fun depends on putting in the work of healthy communication and lots of forgiveness. I’m still trying to learn that the cleaning can wait! I’m getting a little better each week. :)
I love this! Marriage has definitely taught me a lot! :)
Yes! I love the short-term memory in response to trivial arguments. Being able to forgive, talk through it and then to let it go and forget is key to have healthy future disagreement. You have learned a lot in six months and way to be intentional!
Great insights! I’ve been married for 2 years and I am still learning valuable lessons in marriage! Love languages is one we’re still working on perfecting, along with sharing the chores, taking care of our dog and understanding the need for alone time!
Ah, the last one: understanding the need for alone time. That’s been something I didn’t expect in marriage: how to balance time together with what each person needs to recharge (sometimes that is alone time). Hm. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Chelsie!
Just letting you know I shared this on my February blogger love post! http://thenestednomad.com/2015/02/27/blogger-love-february/
Marriage really is fun, and it’s awesome to figure that out early on! My love language is words, too, for sure!
Love this! I completely agree with all of these! Forgiving quickly, and not cleaning up the kitchen and house ASAP is definitely something I learned too!
Jenna, it is QUITE the wonderful work in progress. :)
Lucky about the cooking! Mine is the opposite and now I have to make real meals for a real man – not just beth snacks. lol! But I am actually finding little things I enjoy and I am better at it than I thought at first! lol
Haha! Beth snacks. I like that. But I will admit it did not come without numerous nights of “oh man, I’m not sure where this thing goes, or how to do this” moments. I’m glad to hear that!