Marriage Is Rebuilding a House

Day #1 of Love Your Spouse Challenge

We decided to move. We got the house -- a fixer upper. We drew out the floor plans each evening. We ripped out walls and floors and ceilings and who knows what else. We ate pizza sprawled out on the few parts of the floor we kept in tact. We swept up rusty nails and cleaned up broken glass and swept some more.

Hard at work rebuilding the house

And then, life threw other plans our way. And we didn't move. And the house and the clean up and the floor plans went to someone else. And we had to rebuild somewhere else, with different plans, and different dreams. But the only thing that didn't change was that we did it together.

Marriage is much like rebuilding a house:

It is full of moments that require you to be willing to tear things down, clean them up and put them back together again. Your walls must be torn down to let another in. Your past resentments must be washed away to move forward. Your pride must be swept aside. And then, together, you build your marriage -- brick by brick.

Every so often, you have to be willing to rebuild that house with your spouse.  You must accept that as the two of you change, your relationship will too. Plans will change. Dreams will change. Your looks will change -- unfortunately. Change is inevitable.

Rebuilding can be painstaking, back aching, headache inducing work.  It will make you ask yourself: Is THIS really worth all the exhaustion and frustration?  Are WE really worth it? You will question how anything so special could be so challenging.

But every once in awhile, you will catch a glimpse of what the the finished project will look like. A bit of sheet rock, some paint, some crown molding. A bit of laughter, some memories, a lot of love. And you realize that even though your marriage may look a mess right now, there is always potential and hope in the rebuilding process.

In the house we were rebuilding

{My friend Krista challenged me to post a pic of my husband and myself for 7 days tagging 2 people each day to keep the Celebration of Love going. Share your love. Share your story. ❤️}

#spreadthelove #realstories #marriedlife