Marriage (What's it all about?) - A Dose of Encouragement

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY        

                                               to  

                                                    ME & FRED!

Yes as you read this today we will be married 37 years.

To celebrate we are off on holiday to Malta a new destination for both of us.

So I thought that this post today should be about Marriage and what it's all about.

Fred and I met in 1971


Started going together in 1973


Got engaged in 1975 as we were finishing school and heading off to university so promised our parents we would  wait 4 years until we were both finished there before we would get married.


Sorry but we broke that promise - we are not perfect.


We got married on 27th August 1977

It all seemed to be going in 2 year gaps.


We finished at university in 1979 and went back to jobs in our hometown.


Then it was a 3 year gap before our first Son was born in 1982


Another 2 year gap and our second son was born in 1984


Then three years later our daughter was born in 1987


The next big thing was our move to live in America in 1992 and then our return to Northern Ireland in 1995


Later in 2004 we moved to live in Belgium


And returned to Northern Ireland (but to a different area) in 2010


Last year 2013 was a big year


Firstly we got round to doing our family photo shoot that the kids had promised to buy us for our 30th Wedding Anniversary - not their fault that it didn't get down sooner just the fault of how difficult it is to get us all together in the same country let alone in the same place for long enough to organise something like this.

They will not be very happy about this casual one but I think it is just us with our natural happy faces.

They might be a bit happier (but probably not) with this more formal one of the two of us!



So finally we come to this year 2014 and we are happy and proud to celebrate our 37th Anniversary.


No fancy picture from this year just a happy one our oldest son took of us when we went to visit him in Leeds at Easter.

What were we doing that makes me think of it as being a happy picture?

Well we were in a small village in the Yorkshire dales just walking around relaxing together and laughing at the ducks and ducklings.

That's what marriage is all about, 

sharing the everyday times 

with the person you are meant to be with 

and

 thanking God for each other.