A wife first

Earlier this week, I came across this blog post from Molly. Admittedly, my life has been quite caught up in my role as a (new) mother. It's no secret to anyone who knows me Maggie has changed my world (and Brandon's).

But I needed the reminder kick in the pants that I was and still am a wife first. Right after my relationship with Jesus, my relationship with Brandon is most important. If someone asked Are you a better wife or a better mother? I'd be stuck. The right answer is wife, but at this stage of my life I think about my role as a mother more often. And that means I am probably making more of an effort as a mother.

What a hard realization! My day almost always begins by being woken up to my daughter's cries. When I'm not at my full-time job, I want to spend every single minute with her; I don't want to miss a single 'first.' Our ever-changing schedule from week to week usually revolves around which of us parents will be with Maggie or take her to our friend's who watches her while both of us work.

Making time with my husband is important and with our work schedules it can be a challenge. He often has class or works a lot of evenings and weekends, while I have a somewhat standard Monday thru Friday gig. Although our weekly routine probably looks less than normal by some standards, I am thankful we usually get the following time together in the course of a week:

• Two to four dinners together 
• Keep Sunday as our family day (keeping house/yard/school work to a minimum and taking walks together)
• Four to six breakfasts together 
• Go to community group and church as a family of three

Why do I share all of this? Because today marks four years of marriage. As I look back on the last four years, I cannot help but be thankful for all the things we've done and consider how we've grown as a couple.

photo credit

Happy Anniversary, Brandon. I cannot wait to see where the next forty years (and more) take us!