Today Bryan and I celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary. The picture isn't that great, we were married before digital cameras were the rage and my scanner doesn't do the best job ever, but boy we sure look like a couple of kids.
Our years together have been nothing short of wonderful. I have been very lucky to have married a man who is even better than he looks! And even as we explore the "for poorer" part of our vows, I am so happy to be married to him.
I have thought a lot lately about what makes our marriage so great. We met when I was 8 and he was 7. His family started attending the church that my family attended. This church was more than a church, it was a lifestyle and it took over every part of your life. We both attended the church school all the way through high school and so we knew each other well. We weren't "high school sweethearts", Bryan is a year younger than I am and I thought he was too young for me. Bryan and my brother David were close friends throughout their childhoods and my youngest brother Joe and Bryan's brother Greg were also good friends, both of our mothers worked at the school, and both of our fathers were involved in the church as ushers, etc. Needless to say, we each knew the other's family very well. The great thing about so much shared history is that there have been no surprises. Neither of us can say that we didn't know what we were getting into. One important thing that we have had going for us is that we genuinely like the other's family. That is so crucial as it is a package deal.
Our relationship blossomed from a friendship. We started going out with some of the other young people after church and the group got smaller and smaller until we found that there were no others whose company we enjoyed as much. He is still my best friend and I would still much rather be with him than anyone else! The fact that we enjoy our time together has also been important to our marriage.
And we have so much in common. We share the same values, we hold the same worldviews, and we have similar interests. We each have things we like to do that the other doesn't, but the big things - the kinds of trips we like to take, the lifestyle we like to live, the types of people we like to be around - we agree on.
Bryan has been a wonderful husband, I am blessed every day. He is kind, dependable, thoughtful, steady, funny, supportive, agreeable, hard working and I could go on and on. He is truly my whole life. I thank God for the wonderful 15 years we have had and I pray for many, many more!
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