This Thanksgiving season I have been reflecting back on my somewhat short life. I had a childhood that was filled with ups and downs and some trauma. My 20s could be considered manic; I was just getting by emotionally. My 30s so far have been pure bliss. I like to say that life didn't really start for me until my 30s. I'm so thankful for the presence of my husband and son in my life.
Today I am going to reflect on my 20s. I put myself through school; earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice. I had aspirations of a career in law enforcement; eventually joining the FBI. However, the thing I wanted the most alluded me.
Since I was about 10 years of age, all I wanted was to be a wife and mother. I yearned for the day that I could get married. Finally I reached the age where I could finally get married. However, the few short relationships I had went nowhere.
My 20s came and slowly went and nothing. I watched friends meet their partners, fall in love, get married, and have children. I watched as some of those friends took their spouses for granted. I was dying inside because I wanted what I thought I could never have.
Throughout my 20s, I had on occasion tried several dating sites without success. Finally in an act of desperation I decided to give Christian Mingle a try. I paid a three month membership in February 2014. February crawled by without success, March came and went without even a nibble, finally in April I decided that I had had enough. My membership was about to expire and I had no intentions of renewing it.
On the eve of my 30th birthday, I searched through profile after profile sending out smiley faces along the way. I was about to quit for the night when I stumbled upon a profile that really stuck out to me. After reading through his profile several times I sent him a smiley face and went to bed. The next morning (my 30th birthday) I awoke to a message from him saying that he thought we would make a great match and that he'd like to get to know me better.
Just one smiley face changed my life forever. A week later he and I met in person, two months later we were engaged, and a month later we were married. Our wedding present came nine months later on my 31st birthday. God has really been blessing me with awesome birthday presents!!
I'd love to say that our marriage has been a bed of roses in the two and a half years we've been married but it hasn't. We had our ups and downs like every married couple do. We had knock down drag out fights and at times one of us wanted to leave.
Thankfully we stuck it out. My husband can really get on my last nerve sometimes but I couldn't live without him. My husband is also the sweetest, gentlest, most loving man I know and he is the greatest husband and father in my world.
My encouragement to you is that you hold close those loved ones in your life. Stop taking your spouse or your children for granted. Give your spouse another chance. Tell him or her that you love him/her. Order flowers, chocolates, or a teddy bear. Just let them know what they mean to you.
And be thankful.
Don't forget to give your spouse and children an extra hug today.
Happy Thanksgiving!
