Congratulations! You are a newlywed! Footloose and fancy free! Sure, you and your new hubby are still trying to figure this marriage stuff out but you are well on your way to success right? Do you know how blessed you are to have found this man? Of course you don’t! You think you know, but you can’t possibly know until you KNOW!
Vanessa’s wedding day- 13 years ago!
Do you remember the other day when you found a pair of his socks lying on the floor and you marched over and gave him a piece of your mind about how messy he is and how he must think that a magic fairy comes and picks it all up and cleans the house and cooks the meals and does the laundry?
Well, imagine with me a day, 13 years later. You walk into the bedroom and you see a pair of socks lying on the floor next to his side of the bed. Your first instinct is to sigh as you realize that one more person in the house left something for you to pick up. Because now there are 2 more people in your life that you have to clean up after. They may be little but they make BIG messes! You consider for a moment just leaving those socks there and being sure to point them out to him and remind him of how hard you work too.
But then, you think about this husband of yours. He is working a full-time job and in an MBA program. He is stressed and tired and yet he comes home every night with smile on his face and those 2 little people come running. He scoops them up, wrestles for a little while and then comes over to where you stand in the kitchen making dinner and greets you with a kiss. He asks how your day was. He really does want to know!
After dinner he runs around and wrestles some more. He plays hide-and-seek and Candy Land. Helps with bath-time, reads stories, sings songs, quizzes spelling words and memory verses. Then he heads to the office where he will study until he falls into bed late at night, only to start the whole routine over the next day.
You think about this man and remember the years when you longed for those little people and realized once and for all that they would not come to you in the ordinary way. This man who woke in the night to the sound of your sobs and pulled you close and held you as your grief turned to despair. And then prayed for you.
You think about the joy you saw on his face when he held that sweet baby boy in his arms for the first time. That boy who will be given to you and answer your prayers. That boy who will follow his daddy around like a shadow and practically worship the ground he walks on. And you think about the joy on his face when a few years later he held the most beautiful baby girl in the world in his arms. He still brags about the fact that he got to hold her before you did! He wears funny hats and feather boas and has tea parties and dance parties and is completely wrapped around that girl’s little finger.
Vanessa and her family
You will stare down at those socks on the floor and realize how much you have changed, grown, let go. And you realize how much you didn’t know then but that you do know now. And you thank your heavenly Father that HE knew! HE brought this man into your life at just the right time and knew that you needed him. God knew that he would grow into a man who would love you enough to put you in your place. That he would sacrifice for you and your children and put your needs above his own.
One day, 13 years from now, you will look at that pair of socks and think about all of these things. And you will bend down, pick them up off of the floor and throw them in the laundry hamper without every saying a word to the man you think you love now, but you can’t even begin to imagine how much you will love him then!
With love from,
Your 36 year old self
Wasn’t that beautiful! I may have to write my own letter to my younger self.
If you’re just joining in on this series on marriage, I need more guest bloggers starting in April! E-mail me benandkelli01 at aol dot com and we chat about it!
Wasn’t that beautiful! I may have to write my own letter to my younger self.
If you’re just joining in on this series on marriage, I need more guest bloggers starting in April! E-mail me benandkelli01 at aol dot com and we chat about it!
Previous posts in the series:
The Triangular Covenant
In Sickness and in Health
Choosing the Right Spouse
Military Spouses
Getting to Know Your Spouse
For all the Single Ladies
Comfort Zones in Marriage
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About Kelli Hays
This was lovely! I have to admit, I briefly think of just leaving them there every time. But remembering this post hopefully will help.