The big news this week is that James’ and my marriage turned four years old!
1. Sometimes your little actions are big to someone else. I spent fifteen minutes this week making faces at my little cousins, pretending to talk on the phone with a calculator, and imitating animal sounds. Nothing fancy, but this meant a lot to these kids’ parents, who needed to get stuff done at the time. The kids’ mommy thanked me multiple times after that. I thought “No big deal!” but sometimes it really is a big deal. You don’t always have to do something huge to make a huge impact. Blessings aren’t always proportional in the lives of others.
2. A written note speaks louder than the spoken word, more if it’s handwritten, and if even more if its hidden somewhere like a secret clue. Seriously, try it. My husband hid four notes throughout our house for our anniversary yesterday, then texted me hints for where to find them.
3. Telling someone how you want to be loved is awkward first, but beautiful later. It took a couple crestfallen disappointments before I realized that if I didn’t tell my husband, “I just made a big accomplishment today…buy me flowers?” I was probably never going to get the recognition I wanted. He liked that I finally spelled it out. And now? The man brought a gigantic flower bouquet and a new writing journal to our date. He listened.
4. Good friends tell each other the good and the bad news, even when it’s only bad news. This is when we stop pretending it’s all good and only report on the “hoorays.” Life’s too hard to be “put together” around everyone. Eventually, we stop saving face and start admitting how hard life is. And then, when we’re with good people who love us, it gets better, because honesty builds stronger bridges for love.
5. In honor of being married to James for your years, this is a photo taken when we first started dating. I was still a student at the University of Washington, and the cherry blossoms are from our famous Quad. And yes, we’re swing dancing, of course.
