Re: Wives: Please Share How God Answered Your Marriage Prayers - Encourage Future Br
I was nearing the end of college and was involved with ministry and Young Adult groups at my home church and in my diocese. It helped me stay connected to my BFF as well as my Catholic community.
Well, my best friend and I joined this particular young adult group which invited a series of speakers (lay men and lay women, priests and theologians) to galvanize us and enrich our faith. We started hanging out with fellow group-goers, there must've been about 12-15 of us total in our little sub-group. We would go and sing karaoke together, meet for dinner, and it was such a great time.
I first noticed DH when my best friend was in a heated debate with him
. He began mentioning/quoting some of my favorite theologians and I immediately took notice. I pushed my friend aside and began discussing theology with him
From there, we started sitting next to each other during group meetings, and discussing things interesting to us (we're both geeks
), and I told him he should join our group of friends for an outing. We had all agreed to meet at a restaurant, and I kid you not, EVERYONE in the group canceled except for him and me.
He asked if I still wanted to meet up, and I accepted. Afterward, he asked if I could meet him again for dinner. I accepted. After a couple of more times, we decided, "Hey, we're officially dating, huh?"
Come to think of it, we spent a lot of time together, and we met each other's families and went to church together, and even went on retreats together. Finally, DH proposed, we got married, and 11 years later we're still going strong.
We've been blessed with five children
Sometimes you'll never know how God will bring your future DH into your life. I wasn't particularly looking for a relationship at the time (I was so preoccupied with graduating college, and what sort of career I wanted, etc.), so sometimes you have to keep your eyes open.
I think there was a recent news article that came out which spoke of people who feel like they've married their best friend tend to live longer. I love that! I do feel like I've married my best friend. We can sit and have all kinds of interesting conversations with each other, we can read, watch movies, or do activities together. At the same time, we can still have our own particular hobbies, but it feels great to know that not only is he my husband, but also just a wonderful person to be around and spend time with. We did go to pre-marital counseling (I highly recommend it), and I think it's important to know, understand, and be realistic about each other's flaws or idiosyncrasies. I also love the fact that he is as devout as I am, we both love God and strive to follow the Gospel.
We have both been there for each other through good times, death in the family, celebrations, and tough times. There is something wonderful and strengthening to the knowledge that out of all the people in the world, you chose your spouse and your spouse chose you, and you promised before God to be partners through life.
Okay, now I'm rambling. I hope this was of use!