First, let me start by saying that I am not a marriage expert. I don't claim to be one. I do claim, however, to be very passionate about my marriage and other people's marriage being a happy one.
A little bit about me...
I was raised in a loving Christian home. My parents have been happily married for over 30 years now. They have taught me so much about marriage. I day dreamed as a little girl about my wedding day and husband. I always knew I wanted to be a wife. During college I met a great guy, Jeremiah, and through many, many ups and downs we dated for over 4 years. We finally got hitched on October 11, 2008 (4 year anniversary right around the corner!). I went into marriage thinking it was going to be sunshine and daisies. I just assumed it would be perfect based on where I came from and what I thought I knew. But we learned right off the bat that both of us had very different expectations about what marriage was supposed to be. And, I really don't think we even realized it until things got rough. We had gone through pre-marital counseling. Heck, we dated for 4+ years, yet we still had no idea what we were really getting into.
We refer to the first 6 months of our marriage as "hell". It was miserable...for both of us. We had happy and loving moments. But, the overall vibe was frustration, confusion, anger, etc. My husband and I feel like we had a crash course in our first 6 months that most marriages experience over a huge span of years. After our horrible experience, after God finally got through to us, we began the journey to a happy marriage. It's not been easy. We still have our ups and downs. But, overall our marriage is happy. I love my husband now more than ever, and I know he feels the same way about me. Because our marriage was so rough in the first 6 months, we are both passionate about seeing people's marriages work and thrive. We are the Young Marrieds pastors at our church and love it! We really don't want to see others go through what we've been through.
Throughout this 31 Days to a Happy Marriage, I want to give practical tips to help you have a great marriage. If your marriage is already great, AWESOME! If your marriage needs help, don't worry...nothing is too difficult for God!
