For those who took the plunge:)

My best friend Jill her husband Brian and baby Ethan

To: Those who are married
From: A single girl

I've once heard that it's better to be single and sleep alone than it is to be married and sleep alone. That one phrase has stayed with me and helps me to be thankful that I'm taking my time to finding the right one, yet today I'm not inspired to rejoice why it's awesome to be single. Today I'm excited to celebrate everyone who has taken the plunge, hung out on the edge, took a chance on lifelong love and made the choice to stick together regardless of the battles they had to overcome. I've seen some of my closest friends with blotchy faces, knee deep in heartache, torn between staying or leaving, waiting for their other half to change, armed with a shield and a sword. Trying to protect themselves from the bruises that loving someone can make at the same time fighting to keep the spark alive and honor their vows. I have brave, courageous, forgiving, forgiven, beautiful friends and I know I'm not the only one.

To me marriage used to be a thing of fairytales, the holding hands, sipping a cold drink on an old porch swing, poems, flowers, vacations, family dinners, butterflies in my stomach….I could go on forever with the ideas of the fairytale romance I envisioned when two became one. Yet the real deal real life scenario while it may be harder, less fluffy and more work has so much more value. If anyone's character is truly revealed it is through marriage because you have to have the heart to humble yourself even when you know you are right, you have to look at someone who has let you down big or small and say "I forgive you", you sometimes have to sacrifice your happiness for someone else's dreams to come true…yet you still have joy, you have to pack your bags and move to a new city or state leaving behind family and friends, you have to help carry the weight of someone else's failures, and each day make the choice to love that person when sometimes it can be hard.

To my married friends from a single girl- You show me what it means to be faithful, forgiving, forgiven, devoted, and it is a testimony to me to see you each take down the shield enough to keep fighting for lifelong love.

Genesis 29:20 So Jacob worked seven years to pay for Rachel. But his love for her was so strong that it seemed to him but a few days.

Proverbs 17:9 Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends. (NLT

Song of Solomon 2:16 My lover is mine, and I am his