50 year Bliss?

As I woke up this morning, in a quiet house preparing cookies for my in-laws 50th wedding anniversary party this afternoon, I was reminded of how precious life is. While I reflected on all of the things that they have provided for me in the last 19 years that I have know their son... it has been an amazing journey. They have accepted me as a daughter even though they already have one, they have support us as a couple and have given us a helping hand when we needed not only their help but their wisdom and knowledge. They are awesome grandparents to Paxton and have really been there to show us in many ways how to love. As a 38 year old woman who has lost both parents, they have done a great job of making me feel not only welcome and included but truly loved by them. I am grateful for their son, although sometimes he drives me crazy... both in good and irritating ways... but it reminds me of why I fell in love with him in the first place, how happy he makes me, supports me, loves me and makes me laugh. Not everyone gets the chance to celebrate 50 years, whether death comes before or they just drift apart. It truly is a blessing to say you still love someone after 50 years of marriage. What is the ingredient that maintains that love, that bond, that security of having that person by your side? I truly believe that it is never a one person effort. You have to both want to be there and one person sometimes has to want it more than the other to hold it together. You have to from time to time stop and reflect on what that person really brings to the table and the why you said YES in the first place. Being married really is not about being perfectly happy or always getting along being married is about 2 very different individuals who can't live without each another. But can survive life changes, job changes, births and raising children, stress, down times, moodiness, happy times, health issues, moves, busy schedules and supporting one another to be themselves and choosing to collectively agree to like and share similar interests but also to have the ability to pursue their own thing separately and for that to be ok with their partner. We are not always going to think like our partner, we will not always agree with their decisions or ideas- we may not always feel the support our expectations want them to give. Which I am positively certain we as their partner also don't always meet every expectation they have of us and that is ok... if everyone always agreed with one another, life sure would be pretty boring! We have joined their attributes as well as their faults when we committed in the first place. It is concentrating on their attributes and what joy they give us that initially ignited and continues to spark why we chose them and why we continue to chose them. When you are mad as hell, let down or disappointed remember that spark... cherish it, reignite it! Savor life's joys, count life's blessings and continue to nurture your relationship, don't take the other person for granted and continue to ignite that spark as often as you need. Don't dwell on the wrongs, the mistakes or the disappointments, we all have them and we all do them. Play with passion, don't do anything with less than your whole heart when it comes to your partner, put them first before your children, as they were (in most cases) in the picture first. Continue to engineer harmony, you don't have to always be right or get in the last word. Let it be easy and with choice and appreciation, respect and most of all LOVE. -Be completely humble and gentle, be patient bearing with one another in LOVE. - Ephesians 4:2