10 years together!

I have returned from 3 wonderful days in Sydney with my beloved husband!

Tomorrow is our 10 year anniversary so our time away was a kind of celebration for that and we wanted to go see Louie Giglio, Chris Tomlin and the Dave Crowder band at the Sydney Entertainment Centre!

Despite the cold weather and intermittent rain, it was so wonderful to have our bed made every day, our dishes cleaned, not have to cook (or change nappies!) and most importantly to have uninterrupted time together.

It is hard to believe that 10 years tomorrow we were married on a magnificent day in October.

I absolutely loved everything about our wedding day (and still do!).

I chose to have a simple wedding dress and bridesmaids dresses, and dressed them up with wonderfully colourful flowers!

Our ceremony was held at the church I had been attending all my life, and our reception was held on the grounds where the church is located.

Our reception was like a great big picnic. We wanted to invite as many people as we could, and we are not sit down dinner people, so we had a big marquee, chairs, tables, umbrellas, picnic blankets and a jazz band which set the scene.

We had a simple ploughman's lunch (breads, cold meats and salads), and the only things which was missing was the jumping castle and pony rides (which my husband desperately wanted!).

It was so lovely to have so many of our family and friends and lots of children buzzing around the place and the weather was beautiful.

I am so thankful for such fond memories of that day, and I am still so grateful for the many people who helped out on that day to make it so special

Now 10 years on, I can't believe it was so long ago! We'll both admit that the first few years of our marriage were hard, I felt so naive as a wife, I really had no clue about my role as a wife and the whole submission thing!

But as the years have gone on, things have become so much better, easier in some ways, and I have learnt so much about what it means to be a wife!

However, like with every relationship we need to put lots of time, love, sacrifice, and prayer into our marriage, every day, and we should be careful not to take each other for granted.

A few months ago I came across a list I wrote before I was with my husband (back in April 1995!) called, 'My Perfect Partner'.

• Someone who loves me for who I am and all that I am
• Someone who absolutely adores me
• Someone who is bright, cheerful, strong and sympathetic towards others and not critical
• Someone handsome with a loving smile
• Someone who loves animals
• Someone who is very godly and a spiritual leader
• Someone who can endure suffering and pain
• Someone whom I can admire and respect
• Someone who is clean cut and friendly with everyone.

As I look back over that list I am so thankful that my husband has all of those qualities and so much more!

I was 20 when I wrote that list and I am so glad I did, as it helped and guided me to my husband to enabled me make a rational decision about him, not one merely based on emotion and feeling (does that make sense?!).

I am so thankful for the prayers prayed on our wedding day, and for the way they have been answered.

I praise Him for the beautiful children He has blessed us with, and I praise Him for the trials, pain and suffering we have been through together!

There are many things I regret in our marriage, but God has allowed them and used them to build us closer together and to give us a deeper understanding of Him.