A good Husband, a good Teammate

God gave me a wonderful husband in Luke. We have been together for nearly a decade now, yet my love still grows for him each and every day. Luke has grown into the man I need him to be because he allowed Jesus to change his heart. I respect him and trust him to be a wonderful leader for me and our family. Jesus is most definitely the reason that we are still together and why our marriage is so strong. I honestly believe that marriages fail because of lack of faith and relationship with God. I feel so grateful that Luke and I figured this out early on. We have saved ourselves much hardship by following our Lord and inviting him into our relationship. If you want an excellent message about how a marriage can be saved by faith, see the movie Fireproof.  For a humorous and Christian view on how to build a marriage that lasts, see Tommy Nelson's narrative on the Song of Solomon. Luke and I have sought out these resources and know first-hand that they speak the Truth and can make your view on marriage healthy and Godly. 

Marriage in the military is difficult and sometimes disheartening. Separation for long periods of time, constant readjustment and worry are sometimes hard to bear. These difficulties also make us stronger, though. I believe that we value our marriage more because of it. We don't have the privilege of always being together and always having the other available. This is why I think we probably appreciate each other more than the average civilian couple. So although being a military couple is a burden, it is simultaneously a blessing.

Teammates. It is a simple and brilliant idea. Luke developed this notion when he and I seemed to be arguing often last summer. The deployment just started and we were frustrated and stressed, no doubt. We have learned that we become vulnerable to arguments and fighting when a deployment is approaching or has just begun. Facing months of separation inevitably puts you on edge. Well, after a few unhappy phone calls Luke proposed this idea to me. He said that we were teammates, that we were on the same team. We were not enemies. Every time we begin to fight, we should be reminding each other of our "teammate status" and calling each other by that title. You are my teammate. We have been doing this and it has been working wonders. It is a good reminder, and I am thankful that Luke thought of it. Back in 2005, the Pioneer Press featured an article on our wedding story. We were interviewed by a reporter, who talked to us about how we met and how we were married before Luke's first deployment to Iraq. I recently read that article again. In talking about how our relationship began back in 8th grade I was quoted as saying, "It was a dodge ball game in gym class. We were on the same team." Looking back, that is an interesting statement. We were on the same team then, and we're on the same team now.