advice for newlyweds #3: a guest post by Jessica

Today's sweet guest post is by a fellow teacher, Jessica.  She has one of the hardest and most fun jobs in education: teaching Kindergarten.  I have a TON of respect for her (not only because she deals with a room full of 5 year olds on a daily basis), because I am nowhere near as patient as she is!  I could barely wait a year to marry Mike; she waited SEVEN.  Lucky for me, Mike isn't very patient either.  :) 

I’m so excited to be guest blogging for sweet Alana today!  Thank you so much for having me!

One of the greatest things I have learned in our nine year relationship is patience.  At every great and defining moment, patience is what has carried us through.

I knew I wanted to marry Martin the moment we started dating in high school…he’s just so cute :)  I surprise myself with how the 17 year old version of me was able to see things so clearly.  I used to walk around quoting When Harry Met Sally to him over and over, “When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.”  I truly didn’t understand why we couldn’t run off and get married, we loved each other more than anything, we both wanted to spend our lives with each other, so what was the hold up! Maybe things aren’t so clear at 17.

But Martin was so patient; it’s one of the things I love most about him.  He knew that we would always be together, it might just look differently then I had envisioned.  It was during the next seven years of our relationship that I realized how he was teaching me to live in the moment and enjoy our relationship for what it was.  He was teaching me patience.   So we worked patiently at finishing high school, then college, and beginning our careers.

And today, after almost two years of marriage, we both work daily to show each other the patience they deserve.  When I take an hour in the bathroom or he walks around the apartment goofily acting like a gorilla, we laugh and remember our patience. We are ever changing and growing…school, jobs, moving.  We have to see these life moments for what they are.  We can’t take each change and impatiently wait for it to be over.  These moments make us who we are, what our marriage is.  Life has thrown many curveballs our way and I know we wouldn’t have gracefully made it through without patience. Knowing that great things come to those who wait {patiently :)}.

So those of you getting ready to tie the knot, remember, patience helps build a strong foundation for your happily ever after. 

P.S.  Keep the guest posts coming!  I love reading your stories and really appreciate all the great advice!