Celebrating 60 Years of Marriage.

Last weekend I had the pleasure of attending my grandparents 60th wedding anniversary party. It was at a beautiful banquet hall in Indiana. All I kept repeating to myself was wow 60 years of marriage, how incredible.

In a world where people rarely stay together, it is enriching to see two people celebrating 60 years of marriage. It is a great example that it is possible if you work, grow, laugh and pray together. There is struggle and times of sadness, but there are also many joyous occasions. I am truly blessed/thankful to have such a fine example of marriage.

Recently my husband and I went to visit my grandparents and my grandma was just telling me all the things she can no longer do around the house (my grandma was the ULTIMATE house wife, house always clean, dinner on the table, kids taken care of. Can you say AWESOME?) because of the pains in her body. Everything she can't do, she said my grandfather now does those things.

That's definitely what marriage is about give and take. Two people sharing the load and when one can't do the other one gladly/willingly picks up what the other one can't do. Make sense?

It wasn't until I got married that I truly began to understand the dynamics of a marriage. The things that I said I would hypothetically leave for (c'mon, we've all had those conversations)before I got married, if you were to ask me now, I might give you a different answer. As the years roll on you become more and more invested in your marriage. It's hard to just walk away and not try to work through it. It's even harder to say what you would or wouldn't do until the situation actually occurs in your life. Then you have a huh moment, I know what I said but..........

I have also come to realize that people show their love in different ways, My husband and I bicker a lot, we go back and forth, usually it ends with laughs USUALLY. That's one of the many ways we show each other love, it's different for each couple.

A marriage of 60 years couldn't have lasted without Christ as the foundation. My mother said, " I was watching you guys (my grandparents, her parents) out in the yard together and watched just how you all were moving and I realized then just how well you two work together." You never realize how two people fit each other, until you sit back and watch them.

I've seen growth in my grandparents over the last couple of years,yes ladies and gents growth still occurs in your late 70's if you allow it to. As I watched my ogre of a grandfather get up there and say something, it was in that moment I realized just how much my grandparents loved each other.

Here's to growth, love and more years of happiness. It was a very happy occasion and I was grateful to be able to share in the love that day.

What do you think it takes to sustain a loving/happy marriage? Why do you think we have such a high divorce rate now?