WOW! 36 Years!

My husband and I are celebrating our 36th year of marriage today, July 23! OK, so it seems like just yesterday that I was a blushing bride...time does go by so quickly. I think the message I would like to leave with you today is one of contentment. That is pretty amazing for me to say in light of the fact that on our 15th anniversary, I cried my eyes out walking the golf course with my husband, Dean. I lamented that fact that our kids were on the way to 'adulthood' (what was I thinking?...they were only 2, 7, and 10!!). I didn't see my on-going impact as a mom and my value as a wife. I would like to chalk that day up to 'pre-menopause hormonal imbalance', but I think it was really a loss of focus. I focused on being married 15 years and it was the number that intimated me. What had I achieved and what else was there left to do? It triggered in me a desire to make the most of each year and was another incentive to become a better mom and a loving wife. Today my kids ARE adults, they are out of the house and on their own. This was the day I was crying about 21 years ago, but today I am smiling, knowing that God has blessed me in so many ways. The number of the anniversary is irrelevant, the desire in your heart to continue on the hard road of marriage is what is important. Remember, 'marriage is hard...and a GOOD marriage is harder'. But hear it from this older woman...a GOOD marriage is definitely worth working toward. I wouldn't be the woman I am today if I didn't have a good marriage and I wouldn't have a good marriage if I wasn't the woman I am...so what comes first? I'll let you work that out in your relationship just like I had to work it out in mine!

Here's to everyone celebrating an anniversary this year. Continue to work toward a better marriage and a better YOU!