Monday, January 09, 2012

Seven Years of Marriage

This Saturday was my seven year wedding anniversary.  Now I am not going to even pretend that this blog post contains the secrets of marriage but I just want to share some lessons I have learned.  This time Charity and I shared our anniversary up at Mount Charleston which is about 45 minutes from our house.  We had a sweet deal and were able to get away (thanks to Charity's mom) and just spend some time with each other.

On our way home we stopped at Maggiano's for lunch and some more time to talk.  It was crazy not having our little girls around us for over 24 hours but it was also great to spend some time with just my wife.  I get away for work and seminary quite frequently but this was a huge blessing being with Charity.

As I reflect on the last seven years of my life here are some thoughts:

I AM A BETTER MAN BECAUSE OF MY WIFE
Charity makes me want to be a better man.  I come from a rough past and I think there are many times that I would revert to those ways if it weren't for Charity in my life.  Charity is sweet, Charity is caring, Charity is understanding and Charity supports me in life.  Charity brings out the best in me. For those of you who are not married look for someone that brings out the best in your life.

I HAVE A SUPPORTIVE WIFE
I know most people think that we pastors really only work one day a week but that is not true.  Being a pastor means being on call... all the time.  Over the years we have created some systems in our life to buffer the craziness but that there are still times I head to the hospital on my day off.  See what many people don't know is that in four months I will graduate with my Masters in Divinity.  The M.Div program is much more intense than your normal Masters Degree.  I will have put over six years into this 84 unit degree.  I would not have been able to (almost) accomplish this task without the help of my wife and how supportive she is.

LIFE CHANGES OVER TIME
I am sure that this doesn't come as a shocker to anyone but many times we fail to examine life.  Charity and I took some time to reflect on our lives over the last couple of years and oh how life has changed.  We had some good talks about how much fun we had in San Diego when we met; going to the zoo and hanging out at the beach but life has changed.  I have more responsibilities now in my role at church and that means less time having fun.  Although we have experienced much change over the last seven years I know that I always want to be married to this woman and live out those changes with her.

3 comments:

Jessie Thetford said...

Congrats, Neil! 7 years is a big deal!!! :) Tanner and I will be celebrating our first wedding anniversary next week, so reading about what you've gleaned from these last seven years is super encouraging for us! Thank you so much for sharing, and we wish you both a happy anniversary!!!

Whitney said...

Great words, Neal.

Neal Benson said...

Thank you so much! marriage is so much fun and so much learning. Always learn!!!