Mawage...

“Mawage…Mawage is what bwings us togever today!”

Marriage. ..Marriage has been on my mind recently…not my own marriage of course, but the marriages of other people, particularly that of my Grammy and Grampy. I just returned recently from a trip to South Carolina where we were celebrating, among a few other things, my grandparents’ 60th wedding anniversary.

60 years! That’s a lot of years of finding things to talk about, a lot of years of compromise, sharing your stuff, not being selfish, picking your battles, and a lot of years of looking at the same person. A few of those I still need work on.

They’re not the only ones who have been married a long time, though. My Nana and Grandpa have been married 64 years and my parents have been married 25…come to think of it, before I go through every married couple in my family, everybody has been married for an extensive amount of time.

I am surrounded by good, healthy, happy, Godly marriages. And that is a huge blessing nowadays when a lot of marriages don’t last. I know that it is not all marital bliss, but that it is something that has to be worked at and fought for. My mom reminds me that if what you want is to be married then you can always find someone to marry, but you’re probably not going to end up very happy. There are lots of people you can probably be compatible with, but who are you willing to stick it out for and push through the tough stuff with?

I’m a hopeless romantic, so I still believe in getting butterflies and all those other mushy feelings, but seeing those strong, lasting relationships makes me excited for being married because once you put that ring on my finger I’m in it for the long haul.

A lot of people around me are getting married and I’m happy and excited for them, but right now I’m ok with trying to be content to wait it out. Heck, I haven’t made it past two dates with a guy so I’ve got a long way to go. It’s alright, though, because I know God’s got it worked out and when it’s right I’ll know and I’ll have all these good relationships to look to as my example.