Two Years of Marriage: The Beginning of a Masterpiece

Today is our second wedding anniversary. Looking back at our marriage so far, Tracy and I seem to sigh, look at each other with exhausted expressions as if to say "whew," and then smile and laugh.

We've been through and done a lot these two years. We've moved twice, lived in three states (four including Arizona for two months), finished school (me), started grad school (Tracy), started new jobs, finished old jobs, dealt with physical problems (my surgery), dealt with financial problems, had a death in the family (Tracy's aunt), and had two new nieces born (one on both sides). I won't lie--we've had hard trials, frustrating arguments, tough decisions, and physically and emotionally painful moments. But we've also had meaningful discussions, sweet reconciliation, sincere expressions of love and kindness, increased closeness, and priceless laughter.

I had an professor at BYU who told me that marriage isn't work; it's art. At first, I just thought that was her marriage. Her husband taught psychology. He knew how women worked more than most men. But I realize what she meant by that now. When an artist creates a piece, he or she spends hours and hours on it, using carefully calculated techniques, paints, and strokes. It is, in a way, work, but the artist doesn't see it as work. The artist keeps in mind the beauty of the end result. He or she uses the goal to guide what strokes, colors, and brushes to use during the process. So while the artist is working to create his or her piece, it isn't work in that the beauty of the piece compensates for the work put into it. I think marriage is beautiful only when we have put time and effort into making it as such. So it technically is work. But we need not see it as tedious or annoying.

Having been married only two years, I can see that our artwork's canvas still has a lot of space and potential left. (The above painting isn't ours, even though it is pretty darn cute.) We're trying to keep the goal in mind, but we're enjoying the little moments along the journey. We love each other and are grateful to everyone who has helped us long our way so far. We are also grateful to the Lord who has blessed our marriage and has helped us through those hard times, so we can get back to those precious happy moments.

Well, Tracy, two years down . . . and eternity to go!!