Making time for each other has to be in our experience one of the essential things to work on as newlyweds.It is insane to think how quickly our time is gobbled up and how their are a million things to be done.I think keeping us busy is one of Satan's greatest tools to destroy a marriage and it is easy to see why,when you are too busy then you do not tend to meet each others needs and connect not to mention the only time you see each other is at night and then you tend to be tired and a bit unreasonable.:) Needless to say Chris and I have had our share of allowing busyness to invade our lives and the results have not been good so we are trying to make time for each other and cut out unnecessary things in our lives.
We were able to go to the reunion for a day this week and it was incredible,the classes and the preaching was awesome and just what we needed.The fellowship was wonderful too.I informed Chris that I really did not know that many people at the reunion but Chris begs to differ as it seemed like everyone was saying 'Hi' to me,so he informed his Dad that I told him I did not know anyone and his Dad (who comes across as quiet but has a amazingly quick wit,he is a lot like Chris) was like 'If I said I did not know anyone I really would not know anyone but if Bethany says she does not know anyone it means she only knows half of the people' which might be fairly close to the truth.:)
I gained even more respect and awe of Chris's parents this week as Chris and I were in charge of watching his siblings in the evening at reunion which was a bit of a chore.Being outnumbered (5 to 2) and then having 2 little friends tag on making it 7 to 2 was a bit of a challenge but Chris's siblings really do listen very well and are darling but Chris's parents have done so well with them and I applaud them and think that they are a great example of missionaries as they took on 5 kids with various needs and have taken care of them and given them so much love,it hasn't always been easy but the evidence of what a blessing it has been to the kids is so evident in their lives it is beautiful and reminds me that to truly live for Christ is put others first and to die to oneself which is truly what Dad and Mom D. have done,I can only hope that I can be so selfless.
Chris and I are trying to find the balance between his being introvert and my being a extrovert as far as socializing even though Chris is actually more social then I thought he would be but that is because we are trying to cultivate friends who are couples that we both enjoy which so far has worked out quite well.The really neat thing about the couples group we belong to is that almost all of us are getting married this year! It is pretty amazing how things work out so we will all be celebrating our 25th,50th,etc anniversaries together.It does give us a special bond I think and I know that I for one find myself praying for each of the couples a lot that we will all be able to have godly marriages and be a strength to each other as marriage is not easy and it is certainly under heavy attack in this day and age.
