my favorite birthday boy

My main man here turned 31 this weekend. We celebrated by ditching real life for a NOLA get-away. I love having a soulful city right at our fingertips for such occasions. We laid in bed for half of the day and had a National Lampoon marathon (because that's what you do when you turn 31). And then we dinner and a movie, fancy edition, and were in bed at our hotel room by 10:30. Bam. Sunday was rainy so we did the aquarium (because that's also what you do when you turn 31), and then it was back to reality.

There really aren't words to express how thankful I am for this man of mine. Being married to your best friend is the only way to go. I thank God everyday that He had us for each other. 

Husband, you are the most selfless, hard-working, loving, protective, hilarious, grounded man there is. You are a man among men. You are the leader I've always needed. Thank you for loving me just the way I am, and never trying to smother the wild out of me. 

You are the other half of whatever I am. We are each other's complete opposites, but we work. 

And you are all mine. 

31 looks good on you, bay. Here's to 60 more. 

one day, baby.

Recently, J and I gave away the humongous sleigh bed that was over taking our back bedroom. It was his before we got married, so it dipped in the middle from all the years of being slept on smack dab in the center. After we got married, we slept in it for about 2 weeks before we were off to the mattress store for a brand spankin' new king sized dream of a bed. So the bachelor bed got banished to the guest bedroom to have stuff shoved under it and around it and piled on top of it, until we finally decided it had to go. The same week we decided to gut out our guest bathroom and start over. So there are a lot of tangible changes going on in the Guichet household. J offered to move the huge mirror that was over the sink in the bathroom that I always got ready in to the back bedroom, so that I'd still have a place to do my hair and make-up and such girly things.

When we got married and started making plans for the house, it was always understood that the back bedroom would eventually turn into a nursery. Since then, it’s become a storage unit for old wedding stuff, a guest bedroom, and now (apparently) a dressing room. But this is the first time it’s been regularly inhabited, especially by yours truly. So as I sat in the room a couple of mornings ago, sleepily putting on mascara, it suddenly hit me.

One day, God willing, a little soul is going to call this room theirs.
Someday, if God has children in the cards for us, I’m going to groggily trudge across the hall to this very room to soothe a fussy newborn.
This is where we’ll bring a sweet baby back from the hospital.
This is where we’ll change diapers and laugh and cry and be a family.

As I laid back and stared at the ceiling, my heart became overwhelmed with joy and pre-emptive thankfulness. I began praying for the little baby that we so hope God has for us one day. I began praying for baby Guichet’s conception, that it would be quick and easy (because I’m pretty sure we’re allowed to go to the throne that boldly). I prayed that if it’s not, that we would never cease to know God’s faithfulness. I began praying for their little fingers and toes and nose and ears and eyes. I began praying that they would come to know their Savior at an early age. I prayed for my heart and J’s heart, that we would begin to be prepared for whatever God brings our way right now. Before I knew it, I’d been laying on the floor praying for a baby that does not yet exist for an hour. But it was the most beautiful, sweet, meaningful time for me and God that that hopefully one day baby. And it just reminded me how awesome spending extended, uninterrupted time with Jesus is. Why don't I do that more often? It also reminded me that I don't just have to talk to him about the tangible, right now things. He loves my day dreams and hopes just as much as I do. I need to remember to share them with Him regularly.

{disclaimer: not pregnant. not even a little. I know, this is how rumors start.}

lagniappe

This one is for my unmarried friends, because if you're married you've probably figured this out already.

TMI moment: I have a healthy sex drive on me. Pretty much always have. The kind that always wanted to push boundaries when in a dating relationship, and a lot of the time did. For a long time the idea of getting married had too much to do with getting to have sex. It wasn't everything, but it was a lot. Here and there people would reiterate that it's not the most important thing in a relationship. And I believed them; it's not the most important thing. But let me tell you, it was up there.

Even when I started dating J, this is the mentality I had. But as I fell more and more in love with my best friend, it was like the cloud of sexuality began to lift. It wasn't all I could see anymore. What I could see was that a life with this man was the best thing I could ever hope for, and that if we didn't ever have sex for the rest of our lives, I'd be perfectly okay with that. That a life with him by my side, having my back, & holding me up, was better than the most rockin sex life anybody could ever have. After we got engaged, we started looking for a quote or a verse that we would stand on as we walked into marriage. Enter John Piper's a Momentary Marriage.This is the quote we had read during our wedding ceremony. It perfectly speaks our hope and prayer not only for our marriage, but for the current and future marriages of those whose lives we touch. The bolded line is what syncs up perfectly with this post.

“Marriage is not mainly about prospering economically; it is mainly about displaying the covenant-keeping love between Christ and his church. Knowing Christ is more important than making a living. Treasuring Christ is more important than bearing children. Being united to Christ by faith is a greater source of material success than perfect sex and double-income prosperity. So it is with marriage. It is a momentary git. It may last a lifetime, or may be snatched away on the honeymoon. Either way, it is short.

It may have many bright days, or it may be covered with clouds. If we make secondary things primary, we will be embittered at the sorrows we must face. But if we set our face to make of marriage mainly what God designed it to be, no sorrows and no calamities can stand in our way. Every one of them will be, not an obstacle to success, but a way to succeed. The beauty of the covenant-keeping love between Christ and his church shines brightest when nothing but Christ can sustain it."

So walk away with this: sex is important, but it's not everything. Do I want to pounce on my husband every time he walks in the room? Yes. Is that necessary and healthy? Yes. But more than that I want to spend the rest of my life loving him and learning how to love him better. Serving him, walking beside him, growing together. Our marriage reflecting the Gospel and Christ's selfless love for us is the most important thing about my marriage. It's not the fun trips, it's not the money, it won't be kids, and it isn't sex. It's Jesus. And loving each other the way He love us.

I just wanted to share that. Disregard it, tuck it away, do with it as you will. I just want you to fall in love with your best friend. I want sex to play second fiddle to the amazing, Christ centered relationship you are in. I wanted to be lagniappe. Super awesome lagniappe, but lagniappe.