It’s not unusual for brides to become laser-focused on getting in shape for their big day. From personal trainers to weight loss programs to fad diets, I did it all to be in the best shape possible for my wedding. It worked! I felt beautiful and my wedding dress fit perfectly.
Thirteen years later. I’m not the size that I was on my wedding day. If I’m honest, I wasn’t that size at our one year anniversary. I’ve been varying sizes throughout our marriage, and in fact, I’m not the same size I was last year.
Recently, I was frustrated looking through my closet trying to find clothes that fit. The struggle was real. Some of my favorite outfits didn’t look or feel like they once had. I couldn’t even remember why I liked them so much.
I had to acquiesce to the fact that I wasn’t the same size anymore. I needed new clothes.
While wearing one of my new dresses, my husband walks by, then stops and turns around offering this remark that made my day, “Wow. You look great!”
My “size” hadn’t changed but my clothes had. They fit.
Marriage can be like that in many ways. We aren’t the same people we were when we took our vows, and I don’t just mean physically. We’ve grown in ways we couldn’t even imagine.
Our capacities for tolerance, compromise, and love for our spouses have stretched beyond belief. Our successes have transformed our marriages in the same ways our failures have strengthened them. The addition of children, the death of parents, illness, job loss or an empty nest places your marriage in different seasons. The only constant in your marriage is the two people.
The problem comes when we respond to our ever-evolving marriages in the same manner we did as newlyweds or even previous years. You’re different and so is your marriage.
Our premarital counselor encouraged us to write a mission statement for our marriage and we did. He warned us that whatever we wrote at the beginning stage wouldn’t be applicable in the next three years or the next thirty. He was right. Our mission statement has been rewritten twice in our thirteen years marriage.
If you feel as if your marriage is in a rut, examine it closely. Maybe it’s wearing a dress that doesn’t fit anymore.
Are you struggling to be the spouse you were five years ago? Is it time to review household or kid duties again? Is the husband spending more time with the family since his promotion? Is it time to buy a new house or add a new room?
Discuss the mundane and challenging parts of marriage with your spouse to see if that’s what is keeping your marriage moving to the next level. Decide together to try and find the right “fit” for your marriage in its current stage.
And, when you find the right fit, you’ll love how your marriage makes you look and feel!
Thirteen years later. I’m not the size that I was on my wedding day. If I’m honest, I wasn’t that size at our one year anniversary. I’ve been varying sizes throughout our marriage, and in fact, I’m not the same size I was last year.
Recently, I was frustrated looking through my closet trying to find clothes that fit. The struggle was real. Some of my favorite outfits didn’t look or feel like they once had. I couldn’t even remember why I liked them so much.
I had to acquiesce to the fact that I wasn’t the same size anymore. I needed new clothes.
While wearing one of my new dresses, my husband walks by, then stops and turns around offering this remark that made my day, “Wow. You look great!”
My “size” hadn’t changed but my clothes had. They fit.
Marriage can be like that in many ways. We aren’t the same people we were when we took our vows, and I don’t just mean physically. We’ve grown in ways we couldn’t even imagine.
Our capacities for tolerance, compromise, and love for our spouses have stretched beyond belief. Our successes have transformed our marriages in the same ways our failures have strengthened them. The addition of children, the death of parents, illness, job loss or an empty nest places your marriage in different seasons. The only constant in your marriage is the two people.
The problem comes when we respond to our ever-evolving marriages in the same manner we did as newlyweds or even previous years. You’re different and so is your marriage.
Our premarital counselor encouraged us to write a mission statement for our marriage and we did. He warned us that whatever we wrote at the beginning stage wouldn’t be applicable in the next three years or the next thirty. He was right. Our mission statement has been rewritten twice in our thirteen years marriage.
If you feel as if your marriage is in a rut, examine it closely. Maybe it’s wearing a dress that doesn’t fit anymore.
Are you struggling to be the spouse you were five years ago? Is it time to review household or kid duties again? Is the husband spending more time with the family since his promotion? Is it time to buy a new house or add a new room?
Discuss the mundane and challenging parts of marriage with your spouse to see if that’s what is keeping your marriage moving to the next level. Decide together to try and find the right “fit” for your marriage in its current stage.
And, when you find the right fit, you’ll love how your marriage makes you look and feel!
RSS Feed