Marriage is about “two becoming one.”

A beautiful aspiration.

But, you don’t become one overnight.

It’s the day in and day out.

A lovely and brutal game of tug-of-war that leads you closer and closer to the center.

To two becoming one.

We aren’t the same people we were back then.

Back when we first met at a hometown bar one August night, ten years ago. We’ve grown and changed a hundred times over.

Kids and time will do that to you.

We move in and out of daily life with knowing smiles and quick glances.

Picking up, kneeling down, calming cries, leaning in, and digging deep.

At times, it looks and feels like a well-timed dance, while other times it’s more like a mud run and we’re just happy to have made it to the other side alive.

But there’s so much beauty in marriage. SO MUCH.

So much beauty in parenting together. So much beauty in living our lives together day in and day out.

So much beauty in traversing life with someone who has pledged to do the same. So much beauty in discovering another person. The good, the bad, and the ugly…and the amazing.

That’s what’s usually waiting for you on the other side of that ugly, if you can just make it through.

There are a lot of little battles won in a marriage. Not against each other, but for each other.

Battles that are meant to break you a part or test your metal, I’m not sure. But something beautiful happens when you get through them together.

There’s so much humility in marriage, too. SO MUCH.

So much of marriage is about letting go of your pride. Of having to have things your way. Of thinking you know best.

So much humility in learning about what’s ugly in you and seeing someone love you even though…maybe, because…they’re ugly, too. You’re ugly together and somewhere along the line, you just embrace it and you live in the land of perpetual grace and forgiveness for each other’s faults. As your two-ness becomes one.

One mutual love for the life you’re building.

There is little room for pride and arrogance. Little room for anything other than a shared desire to keep going. Keep growing. Keep loving. Keep choosing one over two. Us over you.

Marriage is about “two becoming one.”

A beautiful aspiration.

But, you don’t become one overnight.

It’s the day in and day out.

A lovely and brutal game of tug-of-war that leads you closer and closer to the center.

To two becoming one.

We aren’t the same people we were back then.

Back when we first met at a hometown bar one August night, ten years ago. We’ve grown and changed a hundred times over.

Kids and time will do that to you.

We move in and out of daily life with knowing smiles and quick glances.

Picking up, kneeling down, calming cries, leaning in, and digging deep.

At times, it looks and feels like a well-timed dance, while other times it’s more like a mud run and we’re just happy to have made it to the other side alive.

But there’s so much beauty in marriage. SO MUCH.

So much beauty in parenting together. So much beauty in living our lives together day in and day out.

So much beauty in traversing life with someone who has pledged to do the same. So much beauty in discovering another person. The good, the bad, and the ugly…and the amazing.

That’s what’s usually waiting for you on the other side of that ugly, if you can just make it through.

There are a lot of little battles won in a marriage. Not against each other, but for each other.

Battles that are meant to break you a part or test your metal, I’m not sure. But something beautiful happens when you get through them together.

There’s so much humility in marriage, too. SO MUCH.

So much of marriage is about letting go of your pride. Of having to have things your way. Of thinking you know best.

So much humility in learning about what’s ugly in you and seeing someone love you even though…maybe, because…they’re ugly, too. You’re ugly together and somewhere along the line, you just embrace it and you live in the land of perpetual grace and forgiveness for each other’s faults. As your two-ness becomes one.

One mutual love for the life you’re building.

There is little room for pride and arrogance. Little room for anything other than a shared desire to keep going. Keep growing. Keep loving. Keep choosing one over two. Us over you.