The past few weeks I have been relying on Tim more than usual.  I’ve not been feeling well and Ava hasn’t been sleeping well and so this ‘weaker vessel’ has needed to be held up by stronger hands.  In all honesty, I wish it weren’t so.  I’d like to be able to say that my strength and motivation never fail me, and that our home and family run like a well-oiled machine.  My reality, however, is filled with brokenness and weariness and insufficiency.  And while, ultimately, God is the source of everything good that I need, that provision comes often through my husband.

Thirteen years ago, I didn’t really have any idea what a God-honoring marriage was supposed to look like, and I don’t think Tim did, either.  What I have learned is so much more than I can write in a blog post, but one of the biggest things is this: my husband consistently lays down his life for me, in spite of – and often because of – my failings.  I know I have said it before, but it is worth repeating: he is the best earthly example I could have of Christ’s sacrificial love.

And God designed it to be so.

It is a simple, biblical truth that I would never have understood without walking it out with my husband.  There are a lot of things about these past thirteen years that I am thankful for, but I think the very best thing will always be the way God has used my husband and our life together to help me see Him more clearly.  What an amazing gift marriage is!  What a creative God, to give us this tangible example of His extravagant love.  I am so, so blessed.