I Choose You: An Introduction

I've been in kind of a blogging slump lately. Yes, I know that when bloggers say that, it usually means they've not posted anything for weeks. I'm never one to be normal, am I? I'm in a slump, but you may have noticed I've still been yapping away! :) I feel like I haven't really said anything of significance for a while, though, and that makes me a little sad for you!

Don't worry: nothing's wrong! We have had a blissfully slow start to 2018 in the news department. That is fantastic for daily life. It's not helpful for blogging. We haven't really taken many trips or done noteworthy things, so it's been hard to come up with things to tell you about! In addition to that, I've spent most of my free time writing content for talks I've been giving and also working my way through this reflection project related to turning 40, so my mind has been focused on those projects, not on daily snippets.

Yesterday, though, I had a little epiphany!

Ryan and I had the opportunity to speak together at a wedding shower yesterday afternoon. We did a version of the same talk we shared at the Valentine's Day banquet a couple of months ago, and we enjoyed our opportunity! (We didn't know the bride or the groom, but one of the shower organizers is a friend of mine, and she invited us to talk.)

A couple of people in attendance thanked Ryan for sharing what we offered, and that's when I thought it might be fun to share pieces of this talk with you as a little mini-series for the blog! So that's exactly what I'm planning to do over the next few days!

Know what the best news is? This is for everyone, regardless of your current marital status.

Are you married? If so, I hope this little series helps you rekindle the love you share with your spouse. (If you're already doing a good job of kindling, then I hope it affirms what you're doing now!)

Are you single? Keep reading! I hope these posts will fill you with hope that marriage can be a good and wonderful adventure. I hope you'll be encouraged to begin preparing and planning now for your someday marriage!

Are you in a dating or engagement relationship? This is for you, too! Ryan and I love encouraging other couples, and I hope the words you'll read over the next few days will spur you on to be the best you can be right now - and for the future!


Here's what you can expect:

If you're new here, let me assure you that Ryan and I are just an ordinary couple. We love to have fun and make memories, but we aren't exempt from hard times or seasons of really long waiting. Our secret is that we're just crazy enough to believe we can have an extraordinary marriage in the middle of an ordinary life that probably looks a lot like yours!

We love marriage. We think it is a grand adventure and are so glad God thought it up so many years ago! As you read along, we hope you'll be inspired to love it too.

This little series is based on a phrase we think is even more important for couples than I love you. The words we'll be focusing on are I choose you.

Here's what we've discovered: you can love someone and still choose to make other people and things a higher priority. We believe the highest calling of spouses toward each other is to make sure they daily convey the message I choose you. If that message is spoken clearly, love is understood.

So we have taken the phrase I CHOOSE YOU and made an acrostic to share some of our favorite marriage advice.

We hope these next few days encourage you!! And if you'd like to read the rest of the series, take a look right here!

I Choose You: Day One - Introduction
I Choose You: Day Two - Intentional
I Choose You: Day Three - Chronicles
I Choose You: Day Four - Help
I Choose You: Day Five - Optimism
I Choose You: Day Six - Openness
I Choose You: Day Seven - Sacred
I Choose You: Day Eight - Exciting
I Choose You: Day Nine - Yoked
I Choose You: Day Ten - Only
I Choose You: Day Eleven - Understanding
I Choose You: Day Twelve - Works For You