So often we marry someone because we love who we think they are at that moment.
Then we find out 10 years later that we don’t know the half of it.
Of them.
Life is full of challenges. People change. People grow. People either buck up or fall down.
Sometimes the half you don’t know turns out to be the half you wouldn’t want to know. Sometimes people choose to fight change and growth and stagnate as perpetual 20-somethings, living at home, playing video games, and hanging out with the guys (or girls) every. single. weekend. (Feel free to insert your personal pet peeve into that last sentence, we all have different definitions of immaturity.)
But sometimes the half you don’t know turns out to be more mature…
…More competent…
…More steady…
…More dependable…
…More compassionate…
…More amazing…then you could have imagined.
You know, back before your definition of competent required someone that could build fence, fix your car, and change your kitchen faucet all in one weekend, while helping watch the kids.
Back before steady meant coming home every night after 90 minutes in traffic to a cluttered house, a flustered wife, and 3 wound up kids all needing dinner, baths, and one-on-one time before bed at 8.
Back before dependable included someone that would wash vomit out of your toddler’s hair while you changed sheets and scrubbed the floor at 2 am on a weeknight.
Before compassionate meant having someone to hold your hand through your parents’ funeral service–and for all the dark years afterward.
Sometimes it turns out, after all this time, that the things you thought mattered, don’t matter much at all.
And that you married someone that ended up simply being so much more than you ever expected. So much more that it tightens your throat and brings tears to your eyes and stills your beating heart…so completely different from back in the beginning.
You know, back before you understood the definition of maturity.
