Marriage and the Life of Faith

I got married to a wonderful young woman on July 16th.

Colleen and I returned from our honeymoon in the early morning hours just yesterday.

Marriage is awesome. Granted the majority of my11 days of short experience with it was spent blissfully in the Mayan Riviera ... I can honestly say I know what all the fuss is about.

The last two mornings I have got to sleep in my own -- though if she were here I would likely have chosen the pronoun 'our' -- bed. Both nights I found myself sleeping on my side, an already unlikely position to find me, half off the queen size bed, with my right arm hanging off the bed and an inch from the floor... probably so that the inevitable fall would be cushioned by my already outstretched arm.

Interestingly, last night I played church softball, where I was assured by several of my already married friends that this is not only normal, but likely to last. Sleeping has been difficult. Sharing my bed has been difficult.

This morning there was another disturbance in the usual calm 'force' of my apartment condo. As I awoke to my morning coffee and sat on my patio with my bible in my lap... Colleen, well... she wanted to talk. She wanted to make a mental list of things that needed to get done in the day. What had to be done after work. What we might make for dinner.

To say this is outside my usual routine is a gross understatement. There are usually no words spoken in the mornings until I stand up to refill my coffee mug, and even then it is usually a murmur to myself.

Here's what is so great about marriage though.

I loved it.

Sure learning to sleep on 30 cm of a bed that used to be entirely mine might not be a smooth transition. Of course I'm going to have to find an earlier time to wake up if I want to enjoy a cup of coffee and my morning reading in silence -- and to be honest they are difficult and frustrating when I am experiencing them... but the amazing thing about marriage is that you are experiencing new challenges with the person you love the most.

I love making sacrifices for Colleen because I love Colleen more than I love myself. I love learning new things about her even if it's that she's a morning talker or a bed hogger.

And what is even more amazing is that because God designed marriage to reflect Him, His nature and His relationship to us, I find that my affections for Christ grow with my increasing affections for Colleen.

Marriage and the Christian life are both things that need to be lived out in order to really grasp their immense value. The reason I love even the challenges of marriage is because you are walking through those challenges with the one you love. Likewise in the Christian faith trials and tribulations are not only bearable, but there is joy in them, joy in sacrifice because you love the one with whom you are running the race.

I look forward to many more connections to my life of faith as Colleen and I work our way back in to reality together.