Water to Wine

From the perspective of a married, mid twenties female (ya know, since that accurately describes me), I'd like to give my two cents on marriage. When I was younger, I had little intention to get hitched before the age of 30. It wasn't something I wanted to jump into. It was a serious commitment, in my eyes, one I didn't think I'd be ready to make until much later in life. Much to my surprise, I found the man I wanted to marry when I was twenty three years old thereby crushing all my plans of waiting to get serious with a man.

I knew I wanted Captain J for the rest of my life. Who was this girl? I didn't feel like I knew myself anymore after realizing this. I DID know that I wanted to marry him.

Many people told me congratulations with hesitant smiles, while others were quick to tell me that marriage wasn't easy. I know how difficult it can be to find the right words to say in many situations so I didn't worry too much about the minor discouragements. My relationship with J bloomed over the internet, as he was deployed to Iraq shortly after we met. By the time we were married, I had truly only spent three months with him. The other part of our relationship was long distance. Perhaps this made us stronger and better able to communicate than we would have been had we not had to face a deployment early on.

In a way, I still have no idea what I'm doing. Sure, marriage IS hard, but the alternative would be worse. I now have someone by my side forever (Lord willin') and that is worth any obstacle that could stand in our way. I have been contemplative lately as I embark on this new journey of studying Marriage and Family Therapy. I know I have so much to learn in practice, in personal experience, and in growing with God's definition of marriage.

But sometimes I think, "Could it be simple?"

In a wedding ceremony in Cana, Jesus performed his first miracle. He turned water into wine. Is this symbolic? Perhaps marriage is just another miracle from on high. If you think about it, every day you wake up, go to work, and do the whole married couple thing- it's a decision every day to place faith in your spouse that you're both in it together. And with God integrally involved in the relationship, what once was plain is transformed into something wonderful!

Faith creates miracles. Faith is what makes one want to keep a marriage going.

Faith. It seems so simple, doesn't it? It's beautiful to think about- if you believe in miracles, that is.

Cheers!