believing the best

"(Love) does not rejoice at wrongdoings 

but rejoices with the truth.

Love bears all things, 

believes all things, 

hopes all things,

endures all things.

Love never ends."

I've heard it said that a couple learns a lot about each other when they become pregnant, and while I'm confident that this is true whether you're expecting or not, I've been discovering the truths of that reality lately. While courting/being engaged was certainly my most spiritually stretching season of life (to date), being pregnant has certainly brought a new flavor to the brew.
In a very real sense, I look in the mirror and I don't really recognize the person looking back; things ache and are stretching in ways they haven't before, and at times I have the most sensational mood swings, the Esposo is such a trooper and so very patient with me!
While I'm quite confident that this freshly married, preggo woman has much still to learn, here are a few musings on what God has been showing me recently.


[ Believing the best about him ]

Do you have those conversations? The ones in your head that begin when you and your spouse begin to talk? Even while he's talking, you're analyzing and dissecting his every word, and for whatever reason, you take it to mean that he intends his words to hurt, that he doesn't understand you, and that he doesn't really care about what you think.
I find that more often than not, this is the pattern of my thoughts when we communicate about important, weighty issues. The gavel has struck and The Man is guilty in my mind before he even opens his mouth. And all this for The Man that I vowed to honor and cherish?? He's got his work cut out for him. Crazy how it happens that when a woman prays to see how she can better love her husband, it is unveiled how much she is lacking. God is so kind to show me at a pace that I can handle! It takes time to create new habits but by God's grace I'm cultivating a truly loving mindset during our more weighty conversations; David is not the bad guy and we really are on the same team. Mood swings shoot up and plummet down, days go badly, and temperments run thin, but Love rejoices with and seeks the truth in each situation and conversation.


[ Patiently waiting for God to work in his life ]

The Man that I live and breath with is not the Man that I married and not the Man that I will hopefully grow old beside; in turn, I am thankfully not the woman he married, nor am I the woman he will shuffle beside in the future.
I am so grateful for the godly wisdom that David and I received before we were married. Through different circumstances and sanctifying conversations, we were keenly aware of each others flaws and weaknesses before we tied the knot, and one of the main ways that I was encouraged by this is the fact that when two sinners come together, they are always changed. One of the main reasons that I love and respect The Esposo is because of the beautiful work that God has done in his life, is doing, and the confidence that I have of all the amazing work He will do in his life. I love pondering on and seeing the ways that God is faithful to move in David's life; He is changing him in ways that I couldn't have anticipated before getting married and ways that I only see because I am married to him. Praise God, we aren't what we were and we will not be what we are today, but by His grace we are being renewed and changed in His perfect timing. That is why I'm able to persevere and cultivate patience when he stumbles, when he fails, and when he's wrong; likewise, David has a sure foundation for when I stumble, fail, and am wrong; these are the growing pains of Life and part of the beauty of sanctification is that it spans over a lifetime. Not a time set out by man or what our expectation is but however long we live and have breath.
For someone who is prone to wander, these are beautiful truths.



[ photo credit to the Amazing Christina Hastings Photography ]