marital bliss.

Weddings, weddings, weddings… that is the theme of our year. But, this does mean so many of our dear friends are entering marital bliss. EP is one of my sweet friends that is marrying her man in August and she is always asking for advice. I tell her it really is the best thing ever, the hardest thing ever, the most fun thing ever, and at the start: the weirdest thing ever… all wrapped up into one! I was reading a blog one day that had “gain” vs. “loss” aspects of getting hitched. I must say she was right on target with those and I laughed through all. So, here is some Kristi Clements’ “I’ve been married almost 2 years” marital advice for all the newly married or engaged people out there:

gain: a man to call your husband!
loss: all of the decisions, insanity, and time that it takes for you to become mr. and mrs. (hello wedding countdown!)

gain: Getting to pick out everything you want on your registry so that you can make your home… your home.
loss: Your home is your home + a boy’s home. Will you register for ipods, games, silly toys and dumb boy stuff to keep the “registry day” happy and not full of fights? Yes. Will you go home and take it off on the website without your soon-to-be hubby knowing? Absolutely. (This might not be a good start to a healthy marriage… but it worked out OK for me!)

gain: NEW stuff. So much new stuff! It’s unbelievable how much you end up getting.
loss: No where to put that new stuff and having to store it in your parent’s attic through the first year while you live in an apartment with no storage.

gain: You get to live with your man and not have to leave at night to go to your own, seperate houses.
loss: Getting used to living with the boy you’ve been dating/engaged to but not living with for the past however many years… you will have thoughts like: “What? I can live with a boy? Yesterday I couldn’t live a boy and now I can today? This is so weird. Okay, it’s midnight… you can go home now….?”

gain: Way more closet space than in college life, when you shared a room with other girls.
loss: Your old college roommate’s clothes and advice on your own clothes while getting ready. (Your husband will always tell you that your outfit looks great on you… even if it doesn’t match and has a hole in the back where you couldn’t see and he could. Oh, I miss my girls at moments like that!)

gain: A BFF for life. (yes, I know that sounded like a middle-schooler.) But, seriously, someone to stick up for you and always have your back. Somebody that laughs at your dumb jokes and cries when you cry.
loss: oh, there’s no loss to that one.

gain: He knows everything about you and can read you like a book.
loss: He knows everything about you and can read you like a book.

gain: You live in the same house, eat at the same table, and sleep in the same bed.
loss: You may have this story-book life made up in your head where all of those things above happen every, single day and in reality you sometimes only see hubby once a day while you are brushing your teeth in the morning. (This can be hard to “realize”… it was for me!)

gain: Boy to take out the trash.
loss: Boy to forget to take out the trash.

gain: You get to cook and create fun recipes for your new hubby.
loss: You realize your mom never taught you to cook and you suck at it.

Oh I could do this all day… but, one thing I know for sure: the gains always outlive the losses and the good always trumphs the bad if you are BOTH eagerly pursuing the Lord and pursuing selflessness towards one another. Love each other deeply and don’t stop. No matter what.

Happy marriage to so many sweet friends!