Real Life Marriage: The Honeymoon Year (Six Years In)

We finally had our honeymoon year...well, kind of. When we got married, we planned to change nothing for a year, so as to establish ourselves and give our marriage a good foundation. Instead, within six months of getting married, we bought a condo, quit our jobs, and moved to a new city. My husband started back to school for his four year degree (that spoiler alert, took five), and we lived that nose-to-the-grindstone life for most of our early marriage. Now at year six, it feels like we have finally hit our sweet spot.

This past year was not all sweet, however, and certainly not without change. It took a while for my husband to get moved to full-time employment. My parents moved out of state. We lost loved ones. The first six months of our first year sans school were hard. We navigated chores; social, political, and work obligations, and more. We didn't get to travel much. We missed our friends and family. I, at least, felt very disconnected and a bit of despair. I was not ready to give up. (I can't, after all, both because we have a covenant marriage, and because I believe in sticking things out.) I was not, however, sure if, or when, things would get better.

Somehow, though, in the spring of this year, the state of our marriage started to improve. I don't know if it was speaking up about how I felt, prioritizing date time, or the long road trips we took together, or what, but the past few months have been sweet, not perfect, but sweet.

We have dreamed. We have talked. We have traveled. We have eaten a lot of good food. God has been gracious to help us navigate and resolve conflicts more quickly. I don't think I have spiraled too far or for too long (as I have been want to do in the past). Praise the Lord, our relationship has been more good than not.

We still have our disputes, and many a thing to figure out. I continue to discover over and over again how very different my husband and I are. Change will certainly come, but we trust in the God who changes not to lead us. We thank God that, at least for a little while, we got to experience the extra-sweetness of a year together without change, and we look forward to many more years together, Lord willing.