Happy Anniversary

Happy Anniversary to Karen and Ermes! They were married FIVE years ago today. It was so cool how I met them…. In 2003 I went on a missions trip to Nigeria to work with ProHealth International. My team leader was Ime….. Ime is friends with Karen and Ermes. So in the spring of 2004, one night, Ime said “Come on! I want you meet my friends who are getting married.” So I followed Ime around the corner and met them. I gave them my postcard which just had one image on it and my name and address on the back. They took it and shortly thereafter hired me. They were the first couple to actually hire me. They got married 3 weeks after Jessi + Cesar (Jessi + Cesar’s wedding was 3 weeks before their’s and was my first where I was paid).

So I asked Karen if she wouldn’t mind sharing some insight from these first five years……

“I have married my best friend. We laugh. We rebuke each other. We encourage each other. We are friends.

I have come up with a formula for marriage. You must be: mature, friends and teachable.

Why mature? well to handle situations that come up, and trust me they will, be it practical or spiritual.

Why friends? marriage is not only about intimacy-you have to enjoy time together. You must want to enjoy spending time together. Laughing. Joking.

Why teachable? you will be challenged and corrected in marriage. If you are not challenged or corrected I wonder what type of conversations you are having.

Marriage can only work if you talk , and give life’s challenges to God.

I have married my best friend.”

Thank you Karen!
I hope my not-yet married couples take this in. Especially that last part. Being a teachable person is probably the hardest part. And since Karen and Ermes have become my friends, I can honestly say that Karen is being totally transparent here. And that she’s a teachable person…..