Leslie Ludy has her own ministry targeting at young women and she usually blogs on her website. I found this recent blog as I was browsing her website the other day and I loved what she wrote so much that I had to re-post it and share with everyone.
For all my married friends, I hope this will energize you inyour relationships. For my single pals, let this ignite intense passion in your heart to pray specifically for a future spouse who loves the Lord more than anything else. For me, it does not only give me hope, I am excited for what the Lord has in store for me. WAHOOO!!!!
Leslie Ludy's blog - Celebrating Happily Ever After
December is always a big month of celebration for us. Eric and I met on December 15th. We got married several years later on December 10th. Our birthdays are in December, just one day apart. Our first child, Hudson, was born in December. And of course we have the biggest celebration of all – remembering Jesus’ birth. So December is a whole month of special dinners, parties and presents in the Ludy home.
This December 10th was our fourteenth wedding anniversary. When people first meet us and find out we’ve been married fourteen years, they usually gasp and exclaim, “You don’t look old enough to have been married so long!” Which I always take as a compliment! But honestly, I don’t think people’s surprise comes as much from us looking young, but rather from our attitude and approach toward life and marriage. People who have been married longer than ten years aren’t expected to be passionately in love and super-enthusiastic about marriage the way Eric and I are. Rather than treating our marriage as same-old, same-old, we are excited about our ongoing love story, even after fourteen years. That, I think, is what takes people so off guard.
When Eric and I were newlyweds people would always tell us, “Sure, you are young and in love right now, but just wait a year or two. Pretty soon the romance will fade.” We would argue back and say that if God is at the center of a marriage, the romance only grows more beautiful with time. But only having a few months of marriage to our credit, people didn’t take our youthful ideals very seriously.
Now, though, it’s a different story – because we have a track record of fourteen years. We have seen through personal experience that when God is given first place in a marriage, the romance doesn’t fade. Eric and I are far more in love with each other now than when we were first together. And with each passing day, our romance flourishes and our appreciation for each other deepens. Just last night, after the kiddos were in bed, we sat in the kitchen and talked for two hours. We talked about life, about faith, about our hopes for the future and about all God has done this year. We truly are best friends, and we never run out of things to talk about. We never grow tired of each other’s company. We never need a break from being together. And we don’t complain and gripe about the other person behind each other’s back. Instead, we build each other up. In fact, for my birthday this year, Eric wrote the absolute sweetest blog ever – click here for a peek.
I believe strongly that Eric and I weren’t just “lucky in love.” We didn’t just happen to get a great marriage. Rather, we invited the Author of romance into our relationship from the very beginning. And we have allowed Him to remain at the center for the past fourteen years. We have made our romance with Him an even higher priority than our romance with each other. And as we’ve grown closer to Him, we’ve naturally grown closer together. The more we make Him our first love, the more we are able to love and serve each other with His selfless, sacrificial, unconditional love, rather than basing our romance on the unstable ups and downs of human emotion. This is not to say we never have misunderstandings or that we never have to ask each other’s forgiveness for being insensitive or selfish in our actions. But honestly, after fourteen years, I can say without question that a marriage scripted by God is truly a marriage worth waiting for.
Eric and I have faced many battles, challenges, struggles, and heartaches over our fourteen years together. But our struggles have not been with each other. Rather, because of the strength of our marriage, we’ve been able to stand shoulder to shoulder and face trials and challenges as a team. Each difficult circumstance has only served to strengthen our love, unity and commitment to each other. That’s the beauty of God’s ways.
I hope that as Eric and I celebrate our fourteen years together, you will be encouraged that modern-day fairy tales really do exist, when Jesus Christ is given His rightful place. Our God is in the business of happily ever after tales – all we must do is give Him the pen.
p.s. though this blog wasn’t really about Christmas – I hope and pray you had a wonderful time of rejoicing in the birth of our Savior, and that you will ring in the New Year with great hope and expectation for all that lies ahead in God’s amazing endless frontier!
December is always a big month of celebration for us. Eric and I met on December 15th. We got married several years later on December 10th. Our birthdays are in December, just one day apart. Our first child, Hudson, was born in December. And of course we have the biggest celebration of all – remembering Jesus’ birth. So December is a whole month of special dinners, parties and presents in the Ludy home.
This December 10th was our fourteenth wedding anniversary. When people first meet us and find out we’ve been married fourteen years, they usually gasp and exclaim, “You don’t look old enough to have been married so long!” Which I always take as a compliment! But honestly, I don’t think people’s surprise comes as much from us looking young, but rather from our attitude and approach toward life and marriage. People who have been married longer than ten years aren’t expected to be passionately in love and super-enthusiastic about marriage the way Eric and I are. Rather than treating our marriage as same-old, same-old, we are excited about our ongoing love story, even after fourteen years. That, I think, is what takes people so off guard.
When Eric and I were newlyweds people would always tell us, “Sure, you are young and in love right now, but just wait a year or two. Pretty soon the romance will fade.” We would argue back and say that if God is at the center of a marriage, the romance only grows more beautiful with time. But only having a few months of marriage to our credit, people didn’t take our youthful ideals very seriously.
Now, though, it’s a different story – because we have a track record of fourteen years. We have seen through personal experience that when God is given first place in a marriage, the romance doesn’t fade. Eric and I are far more in love with each other now than when we were first together. And with each passing day, our romance flourishes and our appreciation for each other deepens. Just last night, after the kiddos were in bed, we sat in the kitchen and talked for two hours. We talked about life, about faith, about our hopes for the future and about all God has done this year. We truly are best friends, and we never run out of things to talk about. We never grow tired of each other’s company. We never need a break from being together. And we don’t complain and gripe about the other person behind each other’s back. Instead, we build each other up. In fact, for my birthday this year, Eric wrote the absolute sweetest blog ever – click here for a peek.
I believe strongly that Eric and I weren’t just “lucky in love.” We didn’t just happen to get a great marriage. Rather, we invited the Author of romance into our relationship from the very beginning. And we have allowed Him to remain at the center for the past fourteen years. We have made our romance with Him an even higher priority than our romance with each other. And as we’ve grown closer to Him, we’ve naturally grown closer together. The more we make Him our first love, the more we are able to love and serve each other with His selfless, sacrificial, unconditional love, rather than basing our romance on the unstable ups and downs of human emotion. This is not to say we never have misunderstandings or that we never have to ask each other’s forgiveness for being insensitive or selfish in our actions. But honestly, after fourteen years, I can say without question that a marriage scripted by God is truly a marriage worth waiting for.
Eric and I have faced many battles, challenges, struggles, and heartaches over our fourteen years together. But our struggles have not been with each other. Rather, because of the strength of our marriage, we’ve been able to stand shoulder to shoulder and face trials and challenges as a team. Each difficult circumstance has only served to strengthen our love, unity and commitment to each other. That’s the beauty of God’s ways.
I hope that as Eric and I celebrate our fourteen years together, you will be encouraged that modern-day fairy tales really do exist, when Jesus Christ is given His rightful place. Our God is in the business of happily ever after tales – all we must do is give Him the pen.
p.s. though this blog wasn’t really about Christmas – I hope and pray you had a wonderful time of rejoicing in the birth of our Savior, and that you will ring in the New Year with great hope and expectation for all that lies ahead in God’s amazing endless frontier!
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