::the question i asked 1000 times::

{how do you know who you are supposed to marry?}

i wondered about my prince charming from a very young age. as young as elementary school i pictured my wedding with the fella i had my eye on at the time. i doodled wedding dresses and thought about color themes and brides maids.

i wandered into young adulthood with same question in the forefront of my mind. every married person i encountered faced the fifth degree.

how did you know he was the one?

and every person i talked with gave me the same answer:

you just know.

as a young person this did NOT offer much comfort to my searching heart. i was with someone and didn't just know he was the one. so i considered their answers nonsense instead of wisdom and went on with my life thinking i might just marry that guy.

until....
we broke up and i began a deep friendship with this other fella. we hung out. we watched movies. we played tennis. we played cards (and footsie). we got to know each other. we were friends. great great friends. friends that began dating. friends that fell in love. friends that got married. friends that became parents.

so you might be asking, how did you know he was the one?

my answer:: i just knew.

{{happy anniversary to the love of my life...jacob}}

{psst....i've got a secret....}

{photo}

they sat together over a dinner prepared in celebration of a great accomplishment. 41 years together. when 1 out of every 2 couples will part ways at some point during their journey together...that's amazing.

{41 years}

but they cried.
nostalgia?
she was missing a dear friend...her mother.
she asked why he was crying.
his response..."we won't have 41 more."

true love and sincere heartache for the years that won't be shared. not because of divorce or discord but because their time on this earth...in those bodies....is fleeting.

she said it with a sparkle in her navy blue eyes.
words like honey...sweet to my soul.
i asked..."what makes your marriage so sweet?"

{praise, my friend. praise.}

those words immediately took me to words i heard earlier in the week:

"it's easy to appreciate what we once had."
-shane hipps

the lesson that echoed in my mind:

{appreciate. be thankful. praise.}

what are you appreciating?
thankful for?
how can you praise those your love today?

grace and peace sweet friends,