So tomorrow is July 19^th, six months ago we got married. Time has flown. Marriage has been a wonderful gift.  To share my life with Justin is an honor and blessing.  I have my best friend by my side to share the joys, struggles and sorrows life brings our way. We get to learn and sharpen one another in areas we are blind too.

I feel like Hebrews 12 sums up my thoughts of marriage over these last six months:

 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted…“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves… but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

I have been giving a great cloud of witness, the main one being Justin. Running a race with a buddy is much more enjoyable and holds you to a higher accountability, just like marriage. We get to run this race together with endurance and encourage each other when one of us is feeling faint and tired. We get to look to Jesus together as the founder and perfecter of our marriage!!! (AMEN!) As we petition and cry out to the Lord for various things, we grow in Christ together, which is the most amazing bond I have ever experienced. This process begins with being stripped of the control and selfishness you once had a single person. If you run a race by yourself there isn’t someone to hold you accountable and challenge you to push harder and train every day. If you train alone you can walk a mile or skip a day and no one knows except you and God. Similarly, when you are single you can go about things however you want, it’s all about “you”. The blessing of marriage is that selfishness is shattered when you have another person to consider before yourself (I can’t image what is like once kiddos enter in). Your tendency to be lazy and stop enduring, aka your sin, becomes very evident very quickly.  Like verse 10 says, we are disciplined to share in His holiness. We have become one in flesh and spirit. Marriage, to me, has become a representation, or shadow, of the Trinity. Where three parts all work as one, Husband, Wife, and God.

Marriage has also helped me better understand Ephesians 2:8-9

 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Marriage has shown me how beautiful our covenant with Christ is. For a beautiful example of covenant watch this video:

I can’t earn Justin’s love as a wife, because:

1. I can’t be perfect and trying to be perfect is exhausting

2. Justin does not love me based on my sins or good works. His love is not contractual, but covenantal. This means he loves me in spite of all my sin!

JUST LIKE JESUS LOVE FOR US! 🙂

These pictures of the gospel have become so much more real since I got married. I am so thankful to known the depth of Christ love for us in an even clearer light. There have been joys and hardships over these last six months. However, this race is not a sprint, but rather, an ultra marathon. I am so encouraged by what the Lord has shown me in this short time and can’t wait to continue to endure and embrace what is ahead for team J&J Gladney.