Seventeen Years of Wedded ... bliss???

One is the loneliest number that you'll ever do -- Two can be as bad as one, it's the loneliest number since the number one... Cause one is the loneliest number that you'll ever know; One is the loneliest number even worse then two ...

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, one is the LONELIEST NUMBER that you'll ever do or know... but two can be as bad as one! Yes, it can ... especially in a marriage ... unless you toss "number three" into the equation, which can really be considered number one ... God.

I know, I know ... make some sense, GiBee ...

This weekend (Saturday), my husband and I celebrated our anniversary ... drum-roll, please ... seventeen years.

The first ten were hard. Scary. Difficult. Okay, I already said hard, and difficult means the same thing -- but they really, really were. And, I only say "10 years" because I'm too tired to go back and really calculate how long the two of us operated as separate "ones." Did that make any sense? You see, before we added number three ... God ... into our relationship, we operated frequently as separate "ones," each doing our own thing, pleasing "self," gratifying "self," thinking only of "self." We worked on our own spirituality -- as individuals -- alone -- never considering the other... See where I'm going with this?

So, as we continued struggling in our relationship, we tried even harder to make it work as "two." We tried to be nicer, more loving, and more considerate to each other. We tried to do things together. We tried to be more thoughtful. And that was nice. For a while. Then, through the miracle of a Christian counselor, we discovered the secret to a successful relationship ... let me share it with you ... come closer ... a little closer ... clooooosssser ... the secret is ... THREE.

You can't make either one or two work without three, and three in this case was God, who really should have been one... and, until we placed God at the center of our relationship, we were unhappy at worst, and "okay happy" at best.

Now, we're really, really, REALLY happy. We have respect for each other, we honor each other, we try to be gentle in speech with each other, uplifting, supporting, caring, all the while maintaining our joint relationship with God at the forefront, as well as our individual relationships with God. If pressed to share the secret to a happy and long relationship, I wouldn't hesitate to say that having God at the center is what has made a tremendous difference in our relationship. Yes, God's the secret.

Do we ever argue or disagree? Sure. But we no longer throw out hurtful things at each other, or hold grudges that might at one time have lasted for years. We do our best to communicate with each other as clearly as possible. My husband is really good at that. Me? Not so good, but am working towards getting better.

Are we perfect? Far from it. But we have a choice now. We can either choose to go back to doing everything for ourselves, or we can opt to include God in everything.

It's amazing how a "little bit of God can go a long, long way!!!"

Any way, what I'm trying to say is ... Happy Anniversary, honey! I love you, and I am so thankful that you try on a daily basis to not only be a Godly man, but a Godly husband and father! You're my best friend, my lover, the spiritual head of my household ... and I'm so glad that God put us together! Now, I can truly, and honestly say that our lives together are all ... "Happy Happy Joy Joy Happy Happy Joy Joy, Happy Happy Joy Joy Happy Happy Joy Joy, Happy Happy Joy Joy Happy Happy Joy Joy, Happy Happy Joy Joy Joy!"