Like puzzle pieces from the clay

We've been married almost a year and it still feels so surreal to look at him from across our garage sale dining room table and think, "That man is my husband". I thought getting married would be one of the most natural transitions I'd ever make in my life. And some days it does feel totally natural and like I was intentionally created to be sleeping next to this man in our bed for as long as God gives me breath. Then there are other days when I'd read that last sentence and think it's the strangest combination of words to ever cross my mind. Being a married woman still feels so new to me. Sometimes I look at him and wonder how in the world God thought it only right to put us together. To ensure that our worlds would one day collide. That's sort of what marriage is... one giant collision that neither person saw coming. Yet it's good. It's somehow natural. It's right.

I love the man I'm married to with all my heart. He isn't the man of my dreams because, frankly, I don't think I was ever imaginitive enough to dream up the perfect mate. But he's everything God knows I need and exactly what I never knew I wanted. Maybe I'm overcomplicating things. It's actually pretty simple, I think. I've asked God for the perfect man for me for as long as I can remember... I waited terribly impatiently at times when my friends so effortlessly gave away their hearts to guys they'd never end up marrying. For some reason, I wanted what they had, not fully realizing how very blessed I was to be the odd one out. Now I'm married to this guy who is the complete opposite of me in most ways, yet loves me more passionately than I'll ever deserve. And somehow, God knew our differences would complete each other. Which is, if you ask me, really ridiculously cool!

A year. Such a small amount of time in the span of a lifetime. So seemingly insignificant in the broad stroke of eternity. Yet it's our one and only first year of marriage. It can never be repeated. How precious these moments are... even the moments when my mind can't wrap around the fact that I'm actually married to this man who still feels like a complete stranger at times. As our intimacy grows each day with all of life's challenges and precious moments, I can honestly say that I am more in love with him now than when he got on his knees and asked me to be his wife with tears streaming down his beautiful face. I never knew I could love him more than when I saw the joy and passion in his eyes as he vowed to love and cherish me for the rest of his life... but I do. With all my heart, I love the man right now cheering our puppy on because she went potty outside instead of on our carpet. He's a good man and I am blessed to call him my husband.

One year almost finished and many, many more to go. God is so good to us.