On Six Years of Marriage

- May 31, 2019

Six years ago, we stood before our family and friends and pledged our love to each other. We became Mr and Mrs Isaac Stanley and had that first awkward kiss before a watching audience. It has been 2,190 days since I became Mrs Stanley, and I'm still not used to that name.

Wedding Day - June 2013

That sunny June day, almost four years after we first met, we thought we knew each other. But oh, how little we really knew! I mean, I knew he loved to read, but just how much, I really had no clue!

We thought we loved each other, but that love had been untested, untried. Sure, we had to work through some things before we were married, but that day when we pledged our love to each other, our love was really only in its infant stages. It was definitely still in the fuzzy-feeling stage. It was still in that stage where our hearts would beat faster at hearing each other's voice on the other end of the phone or while reading a love note that had been sent from afar. It was still the "blushing stage" of young love.

Six years later, we are still "in love" (for we have not fallen "out of love"). But it is somehow different from that day when we formally committed to loving each other as we slipped that ring on each other's finger. We don't write love notes to each other like we did when we were miles apart from each other; we don't sit for hours on the couch, gazing into each others eyes like we did before we were married; we don't bombard each other's phones with sappy love texts.

Yes, with the passing of time, the love has changed, but it has changed to become something better, something more mature, grounded in the facts rather than just the feelings of love.

Anniversary 2015

And you ask, "What facts are you talking about?"

Well, time has taught us that that love is demonstrated in ways other than just extravagant, romantic dates.

Instead, love is often manifested in the little things of life, such as washing a counter-full of dishes or changing a blow-out diaper.

Love is found in learning to enjoy each other's company as we walk side by side, pushing a stroller down the dusty driveway to the mailbox.

June 2016

Love is found in encouraging each other in our dreams and interests instead of simply pursing our own interests.

Love is found in learning to love what the other person loves.

Love is found inlearning to serve others together.

Love is found in obedience: choosing to love because we have promised to love, even when we don't feel like loving.

Love is found in learning to love God more.

Love is found in the stormy waves of life and not just the glassy, calm sea.

Love is found in recognizing our mistakes and failures and forgiving each other.

True love is hard and takes work.

Faithful love as husband and wife is only because of God's enabling grace, or else we'd live life as selfish, proud, and sinful individuals.

Romantic love looks different during different seasons of life, but that's not a bad thing. It's just different.

Genuine love manifests itself in patience and sacrifice, over and over again.

Will we ever love each other perfectly? No. Only God's love is a perfect manifestation of love.

However, because of His work on the cross on our behalf, we can be confident that He will continue to carry out His work in each of our lives, both as individuals and as a couple, until the day we meet Him face to face in glory. And as He accomplishes His work in us, He will continue to grow us in our love for Him and for each other.