Four years later...

Yes, Rachael and I are coming up on our fourth anniversary- since we became a couple back at good old Luther College (Sept. 16th, 2004).

Maybe this is the case with most marriages, but it is pretty amazing to notice that we are closer to each other and our marriage is stronger today than it was yesterday, and surely stronger than a year ago when we made this life-long commitment to one another.

Despite unbearable heat & humidity, having to speak in gestures and grunts resembling Japanese, feeling claustrophobic in fast-moving crowds of umbrellas, running for cover under torrential downpours, not having our closest friends and family around, living on a tight budget with all of our things stuck somewhere in a port in customs, and all the other stresses of an international move, these things have not pushed us apart but rather made us even stronger as a couple.

When we cross a street or one of us has to file behind the other in dense pedestrian traffic, we both know exactly where the other is. We often get hungry at the same time, and know when the other just needs a few minutes to vent or let tired legs rest. I think that, since we depend on each other for just about everything, being sensitive to each other’s wants, needs, or changing moods has become a means of survival, and has brought out the best in our relationship.

We don’t often blog about the struggles of this move, mostly because it’s just more fun to read about the positive side. But know that there are definitely struggles along with the joys…but at least we’re struggling and growing through all of them together.