13 years

It is hard to believe that it has been 13 years since we were married. I'm not sure why our parents allowed toddlers to marry! LOL! Ok...not toddlers, we were a little older than that...

During these 13 years we have had our "ups" and "downs", and it is through the "downs" (some that were really ugly) that we learned more and more about each other and about how gracious God is to us.

So in honor of 13 years of marriage, here are 13 lessons I have learned over the years:

1. I have no power to change any person. God is the only one with the power.

2. When I let go of the control is when God can work in my life and in other's lives.

3. I don't need to sweat the small stuff, and most everything is small stuff.

4. I can choose to be grateful each day!

5. It is important to know my husband's love language and show him love it that way and not in my love language.

6. Life is short...enjoy the time you have together!

7. Laughter is the best medicine!

8. We need "couple" friends.

9. I need girl friends and he needs guy friends.

10. Being "real" makes life much more enjoyable than pretending and trying to keep up with others. After laying down my "masks of perfection", I became a much more pleasent person to be around.

11. We both are messed up people who need recovery to continue to stay emotionally, physically, and spiritually healthy.

12. It is important to apologize as soon as you can, otherwise resentments will build, which leads to further problems down the road.

13. Joy is inside your soul and is there no matter what comes your way! I can chose joy in the midst of hard times or good times.

Happy Anniversary honey! I love you! I'm excited to see where God guides us in the next 13 years!