We've been together almost two years. It's crazy to think that in that time we've met, dated, gotten engaged, married and are now settling into our little house with our monster of a dog, Ruger. Aaron first proposed to me barely two months after we had met, actually. We had gone to Lafayette to watch Purdue play, so maybe that's what got him feeling all romantic. (Haha!) Either way, we both knew from the start that this was something different. Something real. Something we hadn't expected to come across... ever.
I've tried before to write and express all that Aaron does for me - all the awesome ways he shows me how much he loves me - but I continually come up short. I don't know how to describe how amazing being loved by him is. So, despite changing a few things (such as names and locations) the following would have been written by me if this author hadn't done it so well first...
"Coming home from L.A., I’d become so hardened by it all, so guarded. The traffic and smog and hoards of people. And James. He’d been so laid back about love, so emotionally detached when it came to outward expressions of passion, over time I’d trained myself not to want it. James rarely told me he loved me, had certainly never told me he needed me—not ’til the bloody end when he realized I was out the door. He’d never shared feelings much, never talked about the future, never cared to reflect upon the state or well-being of our relationship. James was always content, when it came to us, just…to be.
This was all fine and dandy, except that over time, his phlegmatic approach to love began to burn tiny cigarette holes in my soul, holes I never knew existed until I finally left California and James in an impulsive fit of independence and feminism and stood—for the first time in years—on my own. Once back home, I finally had the time to breathe deeply, in and out, all day long, without the 110 freeway and the smog and the burden of keeping my feelings, frustrations, and fears bottled up whenever James was around. I never realized—not until I was home—how much daily energy that task had required.
And now, Marlboro Man had appeared. And daily, he poured pitchers and pitchers of affection and love into all the divots and dings and craters that California and James had created. Filled them up with a rich, thick syrup…with a sweet, soothing salve. A month in the arms of Marlboro Man and every void in my gut was filled, and then some. My cup ran over. Oh, how my cup ran over. It ran over and out the door and down the street and doused everyone who ever had the misfortune of being around me during that time. I was madly, helplessly, impossibly in love.
But somehow, magically, miraculously, thankfully, I’d found the one man on earth who would actually love that about me. I’d found the one man on earth who would appreciate my spots of imperfection…and who wouldn’t try to polish them all away." ~ from www.thepioneerwoman.com
Ruth Bell Graham is quoted as saying that a good marriage is made of a union between two good forgivers. The longer we are married (and yes I know we're newbies), the more I see that to be true. If you want, there are a ton of daily things to be rubbed raw about or prideful about or simply unforgiving about. One of my favorite artists, Nichole Nordeman sings, "Love a little more, love a little more, cause everybody's broken..." It's true. I am. He is. You are. Sometimes I'm not at my best - I can be a very ugly person. He's not Prince Charming - at least not all the time. And that's ok.
Because no matter what we are together, no matter if the days are bright and sunny or cloudy and dark - the God we know will not fail us. And that makes being in love with each other so tremendous. We try to both give 100%, 100% of the time - but the truth is, there is only One who can do that. And He loves me. And He loves Aaron. And it's because of Him that we love each other at all in the first place.
Aren't stories about love the best ones?!
"God shows His love for us in that while
we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
~ Romans 5:8
"Beloved, let us love one another,
for love is from God, and whoever
loves has been born of God and knows God.
Anyone who does not love does not know God, because
God is love. In this the love of
God was made manifest among us, that God sent
His only Son into the world, so that we might
live through Him. In this is love, not that we have
loved God but that He loved us
and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins."
~ 1 John 4:7-10
