Love takes three.

Kevin and I celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary this weekend.  Love you, Boo!!  Our marriage thus far has included six dogs, a handful of fish, one rabbit, four kids, law school, two moves, five years as a youth director, six vehicles and a whole other host of challenges, blessings and path markers.  I bet you're wondering what our secret is.  I have no idea.  I married a man who has an amazing patience for my constant need for a creative outlet and he married, well, me.  Early on we invited God into our relationship, which was a really smart move.  Because you always need someone level-headed in a relationship, and patience and creativity aside, neither of us really fit that bill.     

When I was in college, a pastor showed me this diagram. 

The idea is that when you focus on God, the closer you draw to him.  As you and your partner focus on God, not only to do you draw closer to Him but you draw closer to each other. 

Our diagram probably looks more like this, the black bullets representing the always inevitable competition for our focus....

We are probably no better at this whole marriage thing than when we started, but we are a whole lot better at leaning on God.  Our marriage has as much need for grace as anything else in our lives.  Its successes and struggles remind us that there are a lot of ways to go about accomplishing something, but a focus on God is always the best way.  

I should also note that my parents celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary the day after us.  Forty years!!!  Kevin, can you imagine 40 years together?  Do you know how many dachshunds we could own in that time?!  Here's to many more...

(Many more years, not dachshunds.  Well, okay, maybe also dachshunds.  We'll just see how it goes.)   
XOXO....Kelly