When I read my friend Matt's latest blog post about him getting married next weekend, I was reminded about how busy our lives were when we lived up in Seattle. We were also very stressed before our wedding with all the preparations and unexpected problems. We were enveloped in commitments at church, work, and with family and friends.
The honeymoon was relaxing, but when we got back we just replaced our wedding planning stresses with new marriage stresses. So we were still just as busy. The next few months continued with more stuff hanging over our heads... thank-you cards, organizing two people's stuff into one apartment, and putting into practice all that we learned in our pre-marriage classes.Then we decided to move to Portland. Oh my, moving is not an easy or relaxing task. Every minute of every day felt devoted to packing and organizing. Looking for jobs, quitting our jobs, and moving without a job waiting for me certainly added to the stress. Moving in with our friends, then finding an apartment, moving a second time into the apartment, finally finding a job, and eventually settling in, we started to finally relax.
And now our weekends are boring. No big commitments. No money to spend to fill up our time. It's such a blessing. We enjoy the free time. We enjoy just coming home from work and looking forward to hanging out with one another. We have the time to focus on our marriage more than anything else because we know how crucial it is to build a strong marriage that positively affects our kids and grandkids.
Yes, we'll eventually get plugged into our church and start serving again. Yes, we'll eventually look for ways that we can get more involved in our community. Yes, we'll eventually have kids and see our free time disappear once again. But right now actually feels like a real honeymoon. And it's nice to not have to swallow life in one big bite.
