A few weeks ago, my husband and I were driving when I mentioned I want to draft up a 5 year plan for our family. I am very Type A and I like to have things mapped out. Plus we had been looking at making some big changes and I just wanted to talk about what we wanted for our future. My husband laughed and mentioned how crazy the last four years had been-how could we plan 5 years down the road?!?
I didn’t immediately want to give up the idea, but it did get me thinking about the last four years of our married life. Which is the entire total of our married life. Four years ago we were drinking green beer and toasting to life together. In those moments, I am not sure either of us had any idea what the next four years would hold.
1 nonprofit started.
2 babies.
2 houses.
2 new cars.
2 trips to California.
5 job changes.
In the midst of it all, there have been times of absolute bliss and times where I think we both considered strangling the other person. We have laughed, cried, yelled, and danced. We have walked through the highest of highs and the lowest of lows together. There have been good days and bad days and days I don’t ever want to end and days I don’t ever want to repeat.
And while there was a loose plan four years ago, it was nothing even close to reality so my dear husband was probably right in remarking trying to map out a five year plan would be near impossible.
But since I am not ready to totally give up, I think this is a five year plan we can both get behind.
5 more years of love, laughter, and making memories. 5 years of singing “Old MacDonald” 100x only to sing it once more. 5 years of house projects in which we often disagree and mostly hate the process, but totally end up with outcomes we love. 5 years of changes we face together as a family, as best friends, as two imperfect people who love and respect each other. 5 more years of growing closer to each other, to God, and to our community. 5 more years of saying yes to people, adventures, and experiences.
The reality is I have no idea what the next 5 years will bring and I have no doubt it will be different than anything we can imagine today. When you marry someone who has a habit of saying “yes” to God as we both do, life is always an adventure. What I am confident of as we celebrate four years of being married is life so far has brought us closer to each other, to God, and to our community and given us so much joy, hope, and love. The last four years have been a whirlwind of change and growth and I am so ready to see what the next four, five, and forever years bring us.
I love you babe!
Photo by Patrick Fore on Unsplash
