Marriage (think Princess Bride)

Well it is early (not as early as 4am, when jacob woke up to leave for work). Jacob will not be back at the house for 30hrs. It is his first stint sleeping at the hospital. You see, he is doing OB/GYN now. And well, as many of you know women are always having babies, so my dear husband needs to stay there in order to 'check' all of them and make sure they make it through the ordeal (or their 9-month illness, as my husband likes to call it) alright.
So this week is our 4yr anniversary. Meaning, four years ago we decided we liked each other so much that we wanted to share a life (this life and the next) together. I have to say though, we saw one another way more when we were just dating! We have accomplished alot in 4 years. We both completed our Bachelors degrees, had 2 beautiful girls, moved 5 times, almost completed Medical school, built 4 pieces of furniture, etc...Most importantly though, we have grown in our friendship/love/and appreciation of one another.
I was not sure what I expected by choosing to get married but what I have found is amazing. I would have never guessed that Marriage is for Growing and Reaping. The rewards "reaped' are worth the 'growing' pains. And as many of you know, marriage involves many growing pains.
We were never meant to go through life (either this one or the next) without a companion. Although it would be easier to just trust yourself in this life, it is more rewarding to trust another with your love, life, and growth. We are human, we sometimes forget that we are entrusted with anothers' self, but our love only grows more after such moments. It all reminds me of 'stretching'. It is still near enough to the new year that many of us are attempting to get healthy again so stretching may still be going on in a lot of our households.
You know when you stretch to reach your toes, if your anything like me you make it to your ankle (and that is with your knee bent) and think there is no way you are ever going to make it to to bottom of your feet.
Well, eventually, on your own you will. You just keep stretching on a regular basis. But you will make it to the bottom of your feet much sooner if you have a partner helping you. After you have reached as far as you can, you take a deep breathe, have your companion push down on your back as you are breathing out and see how much farther you have reached.
So I did not need to get married in order to grow in this life, but by being married I will grow in ways that I could never imagine doing on my own.
As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints we believe that marriage is ordained of God with a purpose. All who have the opportunity to marry in this life should.
My marriage is of utmost importance in my life. More important then any of my other relationships (including my children). Jacob and I already look forward to being 'retired' so that we can get back to spending loads of time together. Yes, we live in the same house and still miss one another terribly. You see, we are each others best friends. We would rather spend our time together than with anyone else. I am grateful for my marriage, for a God-ordained blessing upon two best friends who can't imagine being without one another, in this life or the next.