one year

 

One year ago today Anderson and I were honeymooning in Alaska. The past year has been one for the books but we still love reminiscing about our wedding day and the honeymoon. 

Our wedding, and the days leading up to it, were marked by the deep love we have in friends and family. As much as it was a marker of the commitment and love between Anderson and I, it was a display of the love and commitment we have among our dearest friends and family. We both realize how big of a gift it is to have family we both love and enjoy and how blessed we are to have friends who are like family to us.

After the wedding day we found ourselves in Alaska enjoying all the snowy glory and halibut we could find. But as we returned to our life married in North Carolina the real work, as they say, began. It has been a year full of transitions and changes: marriage, a new home, a child. A year fuller and better and more challenging than we ever expected. 

In many ways, Anderson and I are night and day. He loves cozy, dark rainy days inside and I love sunny, warm days outside. He loves sports and I have the coordination of a panda. He rarely reads and I love to. He is a homebody and I like to go. He loves Latin music and Luke Combs (what a combo) and I love folk and R&B. He is a city boy and I'm from the country. He was raised on arepas and I on pinto beans and cornbread.

These differences can at times make us laugh and at times make us frustrated but when I really reflect on them I am deeply grateful. Anderson and I are not bound together because of shared interests (although we do have some). We are together because of shared values. Our foundation isn't built on liking similar things but on our love for God, our priority of family, and our pursuit of life together. 

Marriage with someone so different means I daily need to look for ways to lay down my own wants and pursue his. Loving him sometimes means staying home while him loving me sometimes means going out. We make these small sacrifices for one another and while they are insignificant in the grand scheme of things, I pray they are paving the road for us so that when big sacrifices are required we are better practiced and prepared for them. 

 

Around this same time three years ago, I took January as a time to intentionally fast and pray over some specific requests. One of which, was that it would be the year I met my future husband. During this time a friend knowing of this prayer asked me what I was looking for in a husband. I told her four things marked the man I hoped to marry: a relationship with the Lord, relationships with others, kindness, and an ability to laugh together. Little did I know that in November of that same year I would go for a drink with a man who demonstrated all these attributes and more.

Anderson is a man who has loved me with a fierce and tender love. He has protected me and fought for my wholeness. He has defended me, encouraged me, and declared truth over me. He has confessed to me and forgiven me. He has prayed for me and led me. He has challenged me and lifted me up. He has served me and sacrificed for me.

We may not have the same taste in music and our hobbies may look different but we have forged a relationship built on the foundation of Christ and the covenant we made to one another. And the beauty of our differences is we get to not only learn more about one another's interests but also discover newfound interests together.

To one year, my manly. May we have many, many more!