Marriage- The Maiden Voyage
The vows have been said, the wedding decor, the dress, the hard work has been packed away. We have lived in paradise for a week, and we have returned to our own house. Our new way of life, man and woman, together. 
In the days after you get married, you receive more advice than you ever thought possible. People catch wind that you are a newlywed, and it’s like they immediately have a plethora of advice spewing from their mouths. I enjoy advice. I think it oftentimes has a way of getting into your brain, and working into the daily grind of you life, whether you try hard for that to be the case, or you’d rather forget about it the moment you hear it. It gives you something to mull over, to think about, and- in the case of newlyweds who have never walked this road before- something to shoot for. In these past few weeks, I have found myself gracious of the unwarranted advice that I have received and have oftentimes reflected upon it at the end of the day. 
But the rubber hasn’t met the road yet. Many people whom we meet and tell that we have been married for a couple weeks make comments such as oh you’re in the honeymoon phase or oh that giddiness will wear off or oh you’re really enjoying being married right now, just wait… or they just smile that I-remember-those-days smile and look at us with longing eyes.
And after each of those pieces of advice, I stop and pray. My heart gets a little sad, a little heavy thinking that I may someday not feel this giddiness in my heart for the man I just promised to love and respect and care for forever. And I say a little prayer that the best is yet to come.  And I am convinced that with each piece of advice we receive, each time we stop and look beyond ourselves and our marriage to see how other people are succeeding, we will be building a bridge that only promises the best is yet to come.
In these short two weeks of marriage, I have found myself continually thanking God for this beautifully crafted plan he has designed for us.
And I replay every piece of advice over in my head, in hopes that I will continually find myself thanking God for marriage, the beautiful blessing that is having a built-in-best-friend.
…laugh together…deliberately make time for one another… never stop going on dates… pray together… pray for each other… compromise, even when you don’t want to… look at him or her in a different light than the rest of the world… think about what kind of spouse you are being… stay young and fun and you will stay happy… dream and plan and miserably fail, and when you do, don’t blame each other, help each other up… be spontaneous… be selfless… be selfless… be more selfless… don’t get complacent with your love, or your ‘I love yous’…