a drive, two years later.

An April day, two years ago, I walked down a long aisle toward this face, toward this man, toward this heart. Gosh, even just looking at this picture, I can still feel the beckoning love in his smile.

And this one where we're holding each other, ready for anything as long as we're together...well, that's what this post is all about.



With as much emotion as our wedding day contained, I wish I could have bottled it up and stored it for all of life's forgetful days. And by forgetful days, I mean all those challenging days when life gets the best of you and you forget how enticing your love was when it found you, how captivating it was when it summoned you together, and how powerful it's strength remains. I secretly envy couples who seem to always be overflowing with affection, those who seem to never fight, those who are consistently warm toward the other. Because if we're being honest, I have plenty of cold days. The Mr. and myself are way too passionate of people to never argue, we're much too stubborn to always forgive easily, and the feminine half of us has too many hormones flowing through her system to make concrete sense of how I'm feeling most of the time. But marriage isn't exempt from bad days, it doesn't call in sick, and it can't take a half day. Marriage is a constant commitment to love, a steadfast decision to choose to love, even when things don't feel exactly lovey dovey.

When days pass by, household chores nag, and stress sets in, it's easy to fall into 'survival mode'...just going about your day with one goal in mind, surviving. That's fine and dandy if it weren't for the fact that we were made for so much more than just merely surviving. We were made to stretch, we were made to share, we were made to delight, we were made to give, and we were made to make the ordinary, extraordinary.

When I catch myself in 'survival mode,' I can't help but notice how I drag Joseph into 'survival mode' too. There's no excitement, there's no passion, there's no warmth, and there's really no fun when all your focus is centered on getting through the day alive. Well, thank God for light-bulb flickering on moments, the ones that wake you up and pull you out of whatever gooey rut your tires seem to be stuck in. For me, my light bulb involved a drive. A drive down country, middle of nowhere, small town Florida roads.

It wasn't where we were going that was enlightening, because well, we really didn't know where we were going. It wasn't how we were getting to this intangible place, because we were basically flying by the seat of our pants. But what made that one hour drive everything it was, were the funny accents traveling through the car, the laughter flowing out the windows, and the family enjoying the company and the drive, together.

In life, we very rarely know where we're going or what the road to tomorrow looks like. But we do know who we want with us when we get there. Two years ago, I didn't vow to love only on good days when endearing sentiments are oozing out of my pores, I didn't vow to love when times are easy and stress is minimal, I didn't vow to love when the mood is set just right and pretty smelling candles light up the room...I vowed to love on ordinary days, on days that push my buttons, on days that exhaust my means, on days when the choice to love is much harder than expected.

Thanks to a drive, two years later,  I was reacquainted with the conviction I had when I walked toward his beckoning smile. Thanks to a drive, two years later, I was reminded of his attributes that told my heart he'd be the best dad. Thanks to a drive, two years later, I was rejuvenated with the joy of our friendship. And thanks to a drive, two years later, I was revived in recognizing that regardless of what our days may look like or how simple or exciting a day may be, a life built on love is not just a battle for survival, but a quest for adventure.

A few things...

♥ The picture of Joseph and Marabelle was taken on Mother's Day while I was getting ready for the day. Finding a Daddy and baby girl photo booth session on my computer 3 days later = just about the cutest thing.

♥ Our wedding pics are courtesy of the lovely Tina Bass.

♥ If you like music that inspires as much as you love writing that inspires, please check out Colleen Nixon, a friend of ours who is a singer/songwriter worth delighting in. She blessed us with her God-given talent by singing at our wedding and she is approaching the final days of her Kickstarter project which is promoting and funding her new album, so if you like what you see and hear (and you will!) please consider helping her reach her goal.

♥ And we are sharing today's post with our friends over at It's Just Called Spicy because sharing is caring. ;)

 

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