Favorite memory from the first year of marriage... Well besides having an amazing wedding, going on an awesome honeymoon to Hawaii, going on a wild adventure and moving to Arizona two days after getting back from said honeymoon, getting our first apartment, and finding a new church and making new friends, I just don't know... probably making up our own songs when we are hanging around the house or driving in the car. Micah is always making up little songs (and a rap every now and then...he will want a disclaimer), and sometimes I surprise him by joining in and making up my own words. Best thing about being married... Getting an allowance. No, really, Micah gives me an allowance this summer. I stopped getting my teaching stipend at the end of the school year and now Micah gives me $20-40 every week for my spending money. Without it I would be poorer than I've ever been since the pre-babysiting days. Actually, even in grade school I was pretty good at saving my birthday money, so maybe this summer marks the poorest I've ever been in my whole life. While I realize it's not truly necessary for me to get an allowance or to have spending money in general, receiving Micah's little $20 gifts for the past month or two has been incredibly humbling for me and has shown me an incredibly sweet and generous side of him. As someone that has always been really independent in all areas, but especially financially, this summer has been a great experience as God teaches me to rely on my husband in new ways. Hardest thing about being married.... I've said it once and I'll say it again (probably countless times), the hardest thing about being married is I Peter 3:1. {Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, when they see your respectful and pure conduct.} This verse is full of hard, good words. Not only am I called to submit to my husband, but I'm called to respect him no matter what. No matter how he is acting. Even if he is sinning, my conduct toward him should be respectful and pure according to the Lord, since God requires wives to treat even non-believing husbands in this same way. This means no uncontrollable fits of anger, name calling, revenge-seeking, or bitterness-harboring behavior on my part. None. That doesn't mean I can't tell Micah when he is wrong. It means that whether he is wrong or whether I think I am right, I am called to respect him as my leader and the head of my home. Eek. This verse hangs on the mirror on my bathroom, so I am reminded daily of what it means to be a godly wife. ... Read more
