What Marriage Means to Me

52 Weeks of Blogging with a Purpose: The meaning of Marriage

Okay, I have to admit something here... out of all the weeks of that I have done this little project on the blog, this week has probably got to be my least favorite. Not because I don't like to talk about marriage, or that I don't know how I want to answer this, but because there is just so much to say and so many different ways of saying it.

Marriage is big. It's huge. It's a serious matter, and I believe that it is the most sacred commitment that we could make as human beings. It's something that takes a lot of thinking and evaluating of the future prior to making that step, and something that continues to make you think and evaluate the future with every year of marriage. Many days you have to stop and remind yourself of the vows that you made on that special day. Both spoken and unspoken. Some days you want to rip your hair out, slam doors, and scream at the top of the rooftop. Key word here is want, not do. 

Marriage is just one of those complex things that not one single marital expert could ever do perfectly. Truth. No matter how much you know or how much you don't know about marriage, there is just no way to get it right. Well, 100% of the time. Why? Because it takes two people. Because there are outlying circumstances. Because of life changes. Because of time, period.

So. What does marriage then mean to me?

It means commitment. It's the first promise that you make to one another when you say your vows. It's the first and most important part of our marriage. We are committed to each other, as husband and wife, as parents, and as individuals that do not make any life decision without the other one. We are committed to making this work no matter the hardships that are brought forth. There is no ifs or buts about it it, this is the partner that you have chosen and if married, this is the single most important person in your life.

It means sacrifice. It's no longer about you. And it never will be again. Now it's a we. By sacrifice I mean that I cannot just go out and spend my money any which way I like because now it is our money and I have to think about us. It means that on any given night, I cannot just run off and do what I want, because there is someone else that may need me. Sacrifice your single life, to something... even better.

It means forever. I told Andrew from day one that no matter how hard things got the only word that I knew was forever. That no matter the amount of arguments or disagreements, no matter how hard things got, we were in this as a team. I think most importantly people forget who they fell in love with. I think that things change, times change, and the image of marriage gets faded. I know there are situations where people are forced out of a marriage, I get that. But I made a promise to work through anything that comes our way, especially now that we have children, and I intend to keep that promise until the very last days of our lives. {{insert music by the soap opera...}}

Marriage is so much more than any words I could describe to put a meaning to it. I could sit for days and talk about the different aspects of marriage, but really, it doesn't matter to anyone out there but to me and my husband. Because my definition of marriage? Could be much different than the definition of my neighbors. The only person I am married to is my husband. The only person that my idea of marriage should matter to is my husband. And the only person that I want to stay committed to, sacrifice for, and live forever with is my husband. And with my husband come our children and the family and new beginnings that we have started.

Marriage is just the beginning of something bigger in life.


Complete list of topics here 
Next week: Random facts about your other half