Today marks three years since I said "I do" to my best friend in the whole world.
As soon as I got the ring on my finger people started giving us advice and I heard repeatedly that the first year was the hardest and that if we could make it through that the rest would be wonderful.
Ha.
I'm convinced those people are on crack. You see, the first year of marriage Tobi and I actually liked each other..like, all the time. Everything was still new, we hadn't lived together long enough to really truly get on each other's nerves yet. We made it through the first year fine. And although we've never been in danger of divorce, it gets harder and harder to remain in that wedded bliss. Tobias Vest knows better than anyone on the planet what to do if he wants to see me turn green and grow six feet before my head spins completely around..and vice versa. And it gets harder and harder to laugh at his corny jokes..and it gets harder and harder for him to come home to my shoes in the floor.
No one ever told us how hard marriage is. It's a constant, daily commitment to get up and love Tobi more than I love myself. To try to consider Tobi's feelings more than my desire to snap at him for not doing things the way I would do them.
Most days I'm realllllllly reallllly bad at that.
That's why I am forever thankful that I am married to a man who understands the grace of God and because God has extended his grace to him, he can extend that grace to me. Because my husband loves Jesus, he loves me unconditionally. Because his parents raised him the same way my parents raised me. With an example of unconditional love. I'm so thankful that his parents as well as mine still love their spouse with a forever love..and that their marriages are centered around the one perfect love that only the Lord can give.
It gives me hope on the days where I'd like to set my husband on fire.
Thank you Tobias, for loving me when I am unlovable. For rubbing my feet when they stink. For changing half of all our kids poopy diapers. For always letting me try your food, and for sleeping on the edge of the bed because I like the middle. Thank you for spending the past three years living under the rule of the Christmas grinch and the apple juice nazi. You're better than anything I could have ever imagined for a
husband, even though you could invent something cool and make us millionaires and that would improve it a little. Happy anniversary, soul mate.
