8 Years!

It was eight years ago today that Todd and I were married! I am not a sentimental person (in fact I have forgotten our anniversary at least twice) but I have been reflecting a lot over this anniversary. It feels really good say "Look how far we've come." And it doesn't have to be our anniversary for me to look at Todd and say "I really am one lucky woman."

There have been lots of ups and downs, and we often say that it feels like we've gone through about 20 years of marriage in eight years. The first 4 or 5 were like being in a pressure cooker...In 5 years we lived in 6 different places, Todd held 4 very different jobs, we attended 5 different churches (two of which, it turns out, bear a strong resemblance to a cult) went through 4 pregnancies (the first two were miscarriages) and and a period of what was beginning to look a lot like infertility. And that doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of it all.

At one point, we sought some counseling and the counselor asked us about our Myers-Brigs personalities. Todd explained that he is INFP and I am ESTJ - we are complete opposites (although I was right on the fence between I-introvert and E-extrovert.) The counselor just kind of looked at us for a second and said "Wow, its amazing that you guys are still married!" Apparently, the fact that it sometimes feels like our personalities aren't compatible is backed by scientific research :)

The other day I was telling Todd how I see our anniversary as a pretty amazing thing. Most of my college friends didn't think we would last 5 years, and sometimes it felt like they were right. Todd agreed with me when I said that were it not for the grace of God, we would not still be married. We are both pretty darn stubborn, and I am pretty selfish, too! If God hadn't given us the strength and the wisdom to work through it all we likely would have thrown in the towel. I don't know how people do it without Jesus. NOT to say it isn't worth it, but dang, sometimes its hard.