Our marriage was really, really great and really, really easy for the first five years. Like, five years to the day it was so, so easy. And wonderful. And amazing. And every other one of those newlywed adjectives that people throw around. That was truly our life. I was blessed to be married to my best friend on July 8, 2011, and though difficulties would arise and outward trials would rear their ugly heads, we were in it for the long haul, and we were doing just fine.

We managed an in-town move, a five-hundred-miler, and another in-town move. We got (and trained) a dog! He put up with me as a pregnant lady in South Carolina heat. Things were wonderful. Things are still wonderful. But the first five? They were easy wonderful.

On our fifth anniversary, our baby girl was born. And from that moment on, life was hard. No sleep is hard. Raising a child is hard. Postpartum depression is hard (on both the husband and the wife). Learning to be a parent is hard. But on this, the week of our sixth anniversary, I am so grateful to be in this hard, wonderful time of marriage with my Robert.

I couldn’t do this with anyone else. Maybe I could, but I wouldn’t want to…and it surely wouldn’t be as great. The Lord has blessed with with such a great man, who cares for me and our baby girl so well. He isn’t perfect, I for SURE am not perfect, but we are making it work and figuring it out based on the One who is perfect and Who made all three of us. I am so, so grateful that our God saw fit to join Robert and I together. He is a blessing and makes my life so much richer.

There are countless things I’ve learned over the course of this year, but the biggest is this: if you’re in the midst of child-rearing, or an easy part of marriage, or another difficult season, remember — stick close to your spouse. It won’t always be easy, but it will always be worth it.