Matt and I are celebrating seven (yes, 7) years of marriage this week!
What a time it’s been for us! This past weekend we celebrated with a fancy dinner at Goblin Market in Mount Dora. Yesterday we took a trip to a local golf course to shoot a terrible game of golf and then rewarded ourselves with a fancy charcuterie board made by a friend of ours from church (Check her out: Boujee Boards by Justina). Usually we would settle for a nice dinner at home, but there’s just something different (in a very good way) about our celebration this year.
Over our fancy dinner we discussed our favorite moments throughout the last few years and the things that we hope to accomplish over the next couple of years. We recounted the hours leading up to the wedding – the silly stories, the nervousness and excitement. We also were amazed that just last year we were celebrating 6 years not knowing our sweet little Maddux would arrive less than 72 hours later.
When Matt and I tied the knot 7 years ago we took a few moments in our ceremony to braid a cord together as a symbol of the presence of God in our marriage. Ecclesiastes 4:12 (NIV) says, “Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” At that time, Matt and I were both believers, but our understanding of the role God had played in our lives up until that point and what he would do in the future was a bit foggy. We believed, but was He an entire strand for us, represented in our marriage? I would argue that we definitely had some work to do in that area. The commitment to God was there, but how exactly that would be carried out was unknown.
Matt and I have endured a lot over the last few years that led us to reevaluating what life really meant to us. In 2020, we lost my dad and Matt’s grandfather, and this year we lost my grandfather. Sadl and unexpectedly, We were having more conversations around life after death and how to explain death to our children. It was exhausting and hard. We realized we needed and wanted help through these tough conversations. It also became very real to us that our children’s salvation needed to be a much larger priority. At the end of 2021, Matt decided to make a HUGE life change that would result in a complete shift in the way we lived. He retired from his retail job after 15 years and stayed at home to take care of Maddux. We were able to spend so much quality time together that we had never really had before—most importantly—we were able to attend church together as a family.
Do not conform to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Romans 12:2 (NIV)
Slowly but surely our kids starting talking about God more, they asked us questions and we were beginning to feel more equipped to answer them. Matt and I started talking about God more, I started singing worship music in the car, and we taught our kids prayers and hymns that we learned while we were growing up. Although the strand has been present throughout our marriage, it’s like the third strand now takes up space in our daily lives, and we are committed to living it outwardly. Our marriage, our love, the family we’ve created, has strengthened with the presence of God. It allows us to be vulnerable, to forgive, to find joy in the little things. We now have a church family to call our own and people that look out for us and love on our kids. God has provided us with more than we ever knew we needed in this last year and I think that’s what makes our 7 year anniversary so special.
Our celebration this year means so much to us because it feels complete. There is an overwhelming presence of our third strand and I pray that it continues to strengthen over the coming years. There’s a sense of freedom, contentment, and comfort with the presence of God in one of the greatest commitments of our lives. It has, in fact, renewed us! In all the celebration of our marriage this week, my favorite moment was Matt getting baptized! I was overwhelmed while watching Him commit his life to Christ and my boys were there to see it which made it that much better. I’m so incredibly thankful for the week we’ve had. Cheers to many more!
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