Life Lately

Warning: Rambling to begin…. now.

For two people who value consistency  and stability in their lives, my husband and I sure experience a lot of change. But that’s okay. We knew before we ever got married (8 months ago today, yay!) that we would be setting sail into a sea with constantly changing winds and waters. Each day is different and exciting, and it seems that we never really know what to expect.  It’s been a huge adventure, to say the least.

What a lot of married women will say to young ladies who are engaged to be married is that with all the changing and shifting winds, comes new responsibilities and coping with your spouse’s reactions to those changes. They say that you learn so much more about your significant other AFTER you get married than you ever did while you were dating. When this was said to me on numerous occasions, I thought to myself “eh… I’m not sure about that…I know him prettttttty well…” That advice (or maybe it was a warning!) was one of the truest things anyone told me.

See, before Alex and I got married, how would I have known how he would react to changes in his financial stability, changes in climate, and changes in daily responsibilities? I didn't even know how I would react! Even though we were dating for 4 years prior to marriage, the changes we experienced in life leading up to the big day were minimal, at best. We never dealt with insurance claims, job security, internet and phone bills, etc… We were college students on our parent’s health insurance, not needing to work unless we wanted to (HAH!). Our biggest source of stress for the majority of that time was our grades, and maybe how we best used the time we had on a 3 day weekend to have as much fun as possible.

Since we've been married, I have seen at least 1000 sides to my new husband that I just didn't even know existed… and trust me, he’s probably seen about 5000 of mine! But how could I have known that those parts of him existed? I couldn't have. He didn't even know they were there either. Not only is he exploring the new territory of being a husband and what that means in all aspects of life, he’s taking all these new changes and struggles head on and doing his best to react to them in the most Biblical way he can; and I need to support him in that, even though it may mean acclimating to a different facet of his personality that I never knew before; because that’s exactly how we grow even closer together and form an even deeper relationship. Whoever expects to get married and EVERYTHING to stay like it was before is in for a very big surprise!

The thing about getting married is that you’re committing to stick together even though you will learn things about each other that you never knew before. No one was dishonest about anything, it’s just life’s natural curvatures that we are twisting and turning through, and no one farther ahead of us (no matter how hard they try) can create a completely accurate map to get us through it safely. Everyone's road is different. We’ll probably get a little bruised up as we go on this ride, because it’s bumpy and sometimes we are foolish and don’t wear our seat belts (aka: staying in God’s word and taking part in daily prayer).

Something I am learning is that whether I am doing well at growing with the Lord, or backsliding and not taking the time I should to be in the word, the bumps, the curves, and the twists and turns are STILL going to come! And it’s usually when we don’t expect it at all. It’s up to ME how prepared I am to handle those situations… and It’s best to be prepared and in unity with your spouse in your closeness with the Lord. This will not only make life’s challenges a little easier to handle, but it will help BOTH of you to react in a more Biblical way that brings you together…and doesn't drive a wedge between you.

In my sweet, baby, brand new marriage, one of the most valuable things I have grasped so far is that it is completely unfair to not prioritize Jesus; not only for your own spiritual health, but for the spiritual health of your partner. We are facing unknown roads ahead, and the only way to be completely unified and prepared to handle them is with the unity only the Lord can bring in a marriage. 

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On to some other things! I wanted to share some pictures from our life recently, because even though it's twisting and turning all the time, we have a lot of fun! :)

A couple of weeks ago, my darling, handsome husband decided that I deserved a break from cooking dinner and as soon (and I mean AS SOON) as I pulled in at home, he hopped in the car and said we were going out! This was us outside of the Macaroni Grill :)

Two weekends ago, we had the immensely wonderful opportunity to visit my parents while they were vacationing in Oceanside, CA. We had a ton of fun with them and it was so nice to spend time with them. We ate out one night at King's Fish House in Carslbad!

We would not be "Alex and Marybeth" if we did not go to Taco Bell for dinner to celebrate the return of the Beefy Crunch Burrito.... Alex was so excited that he ordered FOUR! 

Last week, we discovered that just down our street there was a community center with a couple small lakes attached to it... We went for a stroll there and it was just lovely! We saw so many baby ducks, which I just couldn't stop following and taking pictures of. 

This thing called life has treated us so well, and our big God has taken care of us and provided more than what we need on a regular basis. He's constantly proving how mighty and powerful He is!

xoxo