My Valentine

I just want the world to know how much I love my husband!! Adam and I will have been married 3 years this June and at the end of this month (Feb. 24) we will have been together for 4 years (WOAH!) haha this may not seem huge to those of you who have been married for 10+ years, but it's so amazing to see where we have come from and where we are now. Back in October Adam and I had our very first weekend away from Tori. My parents sweetly offered to send us on a marriage retreat call "A Weekend to Remember" in Memphis, and to watch Tori while we were there. It was one of the most amazing weekends of my life. We had projects to do together, a date night, and we were asked to write love letters to eachother, and to make the most of our time together. This was a life changing weekend for us. We learned so much, how to communicate better, how to understand one another, and man has it been amazing to see how our marriage has grown!!! I just want to touch a little on what we learned with a few of my favorite quotes from the speakers:
1. Make Your marriage Fireproof! 
"Fireproof does not mean fire will not come. It means you can get through it WHEN it does."
2. "Unconditional Love...Adam is my gift from God, and I receive him because of this and no other reason."
3. Our goal is to acheive oneness:
"True oneness in marriage is not possible without God."
"Differences are God's tools to teach us to trust Him and His goodness."
4.  Resolving Conflict:
"We don't want victory, we want unity."
5. Me as the wife:
"My God given role is to be my husbands helper and completer in our marriage. He is to be the leader."
"Respecting my husband is a choice that I make that no matter how he messes up or what happens I will always be here. My decision to respect him will empower him to become the man God created him to be."
"Hold my tongue, and trust God with everything including my role as Adam's wife."
6. "God has designed His word to cost more to give out, than to receive."
7. The 3 essential ingrediants for oneness in marriage:
     1. The habit of Extravagant Love- This leads to genuine intimacy
     2. The habit of Generous Forgiveness- This leads to true security
     3. The habit of Enthusiastic Encouragement- This leads to authentic unity
8. "Fill your home with contagious joy."

Marriage isn't easy, and people tell you love is a feeling all the time, but love is not a feeling!! Love is a choice you make. My last quote from this weekend is this definition for love: "The commitment of my will to your needs and best interests, regardless of the cost." Every day, that I choose to love my husband the more I "feel" the warm fuzzy feeling in my heart that we like to call love. Love cannot be defined simply as an emotion, love is more than that, it is a commitment, a sacrifice, a lifestyle, and a choice. And I choose to love my husband this valentines day, and for the rest of my life!!