There have been a lot of things going on in our lives lately. Leaving jobs. Starting new jobs. Packing a zillion boxes. Moving 500 miles away. Saying see you later and nice to meet you about 30249579 times. And in the midst of all of the craziness that is living out of a suitcase, we now come to July 8th – my favorite day of the year. It’s the day I’m forced to stop in my tracks, let all of the hectic adventures subside, and remember how blessed I truly am, and how utterly blessed I’ve been the last three years.

Three years ago this very day, I said I do to the man of my dreams. It was the true beginning of what we’d been planning for years. The day we launched ourselves headlong into a sea of unknowns, feeling our way through becoming husband and wife. It has been difficult and wonderful and eye-opening and magical and hilarious and everything in between, and in the three years we’ve been one, I would have to say that everything and nothing has changed.

Everything has changed:

We are now residents of a new state. We have new jobs. We have a fur-baby! We (mostly Robert) started a podcasting network! We know each other’s daily routines. We’ve been to multiple countries and had various Bible studies with strangers and guessed our way through a lot of different situations. The dating years were years of excitement and newness and giddiness, and we’ve settled into familiarity and comfort and companionship (which I much prefer!!). It seems a snapshot of our lives in 2014 is far from the doe-eyed pictures taken on our wedding day. And yet…

Nothing has changed:

The man I married three years ago is still the same man of God. I still have an immense amount of respect for him, and he is still the best friend I will ever have. We are still doing our best to serve – both each other and whoever we come into contact with. We are still passionate about working for the Lord, and we are still honing our talents and looking for new opportunities to be better members of the body.

I love the institution of marriage because it is ever-expanding yet never changing. We are learning more and growing closer, but always committed. Always as in love as we were in those first, exciting days, only more and in deeper ways. Always as eager to be with one another, but learning new ways to fill the other’s needs. Always as supportive, even when dreams change. And I love my marriage. I love my amazingly talented, extremely hard-working, dedicated and focused husband. He is every dream I’ve ever had, only better. He is making my life so much richer and fuller and lovelier, and I thank God for using him as a tool in my life.

If you aren’t married, or think marriage is the worst, let me assure you it isn’t. God’s plan for marriage is the best life you could ever experience. And trust me on that, because I’m living it every day!

And, if you are already married and have been for much longer than I have I will only say this: Three years. Clearly we’re experts =P