11 Years

15 years ago today we met. Mike had just graduated high school and I was going to be a senior. Little did we know the life God had planned out for us. I'm so thankful for our marriage. There really isn't much I would change. We have spent many years focusing on our marrage, specifically communication. We have learned a great deal about how each of us communicates differently by nature. Fortunately early on in our marriage we read a great book called, A Lasting Promise. It brought us to a common ground of communication and taught us how to listen to each other. I'd have to say the strongest aspect of our marriage is our communication.

The best advice we like to share with newly married couples is to not have a television. We didn't have television for the first 4 years of our marriage. It was the best thing for us. We played a lot of games, talked, went for a lot of walks, listened to a lot of talk radio, listened to a ton or worship music, and enjoyed every minute of it. We purposely don't have a television in our living room because we feel that it discourages communication. We strive to make our home a comfortable place. A place that people may want to come to hang out and chat. We have had many friends over the years do just that, and we feel like we are doing just what God wants us to.

We have had our share of heartache, don't get me wrong, what marriage doesn't. But overall, these last 11 years have been very positive. We have grown from every struggle. And we have 3 gorgeous (of course I'm biased!) children who we are called to parent in a specific manner.

11 wonderful years down and many more good ones to come!