Hi friends! Thanks for the anniversary wishes - both here and on FB! We had a wonderful time celebrating an amazing first year of marriage, and if you're not on Facebook (or if you are but haven't seen these), here's a link to pictures from the weekend!

I love being married to that man - he is a blessing second only to Jesus! Since many of you saw A's reflections and thoughts on our marriage, I'll share a few of my own on here, although I have no illusions that they'll be as eloquent or sweet as his! I may be the "writer" but he is a wordsmith.

This past year of marriage has taught me a ton - both about myself, but more importantly, about my relationship with Christ. When we were engaged, together we worked through some pretty deep theology in regards to marriage. We looked at the reasons behind the institution of marriage - namely, that it is a picture of how Christ loves the church and the relationship between Jesus Christ and his bride the church.

1) Submission is a beautiful thing. For those of you who knew me when I was a bit more independent and headstrong, this may come as a surprise, but every day I love seeing how submitting to my husband is a picture of how the church is to submit (happily and humbly) to the leadership of Christ. I don't do it perfect, but I desire to do it better, day by day, by the grace of God.
2) My husband is an amazing leader. Never have I met a man more concerned with leading his family well than A. He spends hours upon hours reading his Bible and marriage books from other Godly men, praying for wisdom and direction for our family, and actively thinking about and working toward growing our relationships with the Lord and our relationship with one another. He is incredibly intentional, and I LOVE that. Although my submission is not based on his leadership, but rather my role as a wife, his leadership and servant-heart make it EASY to happily submit.
3) Earthly marriages are an amazing joy and blessing, but still just a dim reflection of the marriage believers have with our Heavenly Husband, Jesus Christ. This allows us to take joy in our marriage, regardless of what it looks like. The bad shows us how much better our eternal marriage will be, and the good shows us how much better our eternal marriage will be! As AMAZING as my marriage is, it is nothing compared to the joy and fellowship I have and will with Jesus in heaven.

I seriously could talk/write a ton more. In fact, this is the third and most concise time I've tried to write this down! Marriage is one of my favorite topics as of late. If you've got questions or thoughts, PLEASE let me know, but for now, I'm going to cut it off :) I'm getting long-winded here, and I don't want to do that. I want you to see beyond the big concepts and be able to see both my incredible love for my husband, but even more, my incredible love for my Savior. Jesus is refining me through A, and I love it. I love marriage because it teaches me that holiness - not happiness - is the ultimate goal, and I can see Christ refining me through my marriage, changing me into someone who looks more like Christ and less like Lauren. And that's a good thing. A really, really good thing.

I'm excited for year #2 and every moment God blesses me with by sharing life with my husband.