Sunday, April 27, 2008

Every day you are given is a gift from above...

What a day to appreciate the gifts the come from above.

Yesterday while listening to the radio, a beautiful song came on. I've heard it before, but it has never really moved me until yesterday. The song is by a group called "Superchick" and it's called "We Live." Take a listen:



Anyway, at the time I was listening to it, I was driving home from Dos Picos Park after a fun bike ride with Matt and Gabriel. It was a happy day so far, and yet this song made me think. Life is so very short, and you never really know when your last day here on Earth are.

Well, later after work, pretty much 12 hours after hearing this song I was driving by Mussey Grade Road, I had seen online that a fatal accident had occurred earlier in the evening. I slowed down to see if I could see any spray paint on the asphalt. As I was slowing down (there was no one there, since the accident happened at 9pm and I was coming home from work at 1:30am) and a firetruck comes barreling down the road and turns onto HWY 67 right in front of me. Thank goodness I had slowed down to "lookie-loo" or else it would have been a close one! God works in mysterious ways, I tell ya. Oddly enough, the accidnet happened in the saem spot where I had heard the song earlier.

I got home and saw that Matt was still awake. He's ALWAYS asleep when I get home, so this is not normal. I tell him that I followed a firetruck into town and my story about hearing about an earlier accident that may have saved me. I asked if he had heard about the accident at 9pm, since it was a fatality, and in Ramona, this news spreads fast.

He looks at me and responds, "Yeah, I was one of the first on scene." I was shocked! He was off duty from the fire department that day, and was driving home to visit his parents on Mt Woodson to celebrate their Easter service. He saw people on the side of the road looking confused and saw a motorcycle down.

I wasn't there, so I can't really tell this part of the story. But, I guess a motorcyclist was driving with a friend and he lost control. When Matt got there, he tried to revive him, but had no luck. So very sad. My prayers go out this this mans family and friends.

Now I know that Matt is really good a separating himself mentally from these situations. He's a trained firefighter and prior to that was an ambulance driver in the Marines, so he's seen a lot. But it has got to tear him up inside to witness this. I just thank God that it was Matt who was there, and not me. I would be so upset by this, I wouldn't have been much help. I know that Matt did everything that he could to help this man.

Please pray for the man who lost his life. I have no idea who he was or where he was from. Pray for his friend who was there with him. He has a long road to closure. The young mans family are also on my heart.

And lastly , please pray for Matt. He is so strong and has a great deal of respect for life. He also is wonderfully spiritual and realizes that only God knows when it is a persons time to go home.

Live each day as if it is your last. God Bless!

Friday, April 25, 2008

mawidge is what bwings us togewer today



Ok, I love this movie (and if anyone wants to get it for me on DVD, I'll accept!)

It has nothing to do with the point of my post, however.

I don't think it's any secret that Matt and I are so much in love, even as we approach our 7th year of marriage (and are in our 8th year together.) When we got married, we were young, REALLY young. I think everyone thought we were really stupid jumping into this commitment as kids. I had just turned 19 and Matt was 21. We were babies!

And I think that we have definetly grown up a lot in this time. It helps that we had babies ourselves, right away. When you have to take care of this little person all by yourself, it make you realize how important every decision is that you make. We are a lot more mature even now that most of our friends in the same age group. (no offense people!)

What makes me really sad, it that a lot of my good friends have also been lucky in love and married as well. They are still young, too. What makes me so very sad, is that their marriages all had problems. Some issues showed up right away, and other took awhile to surface. I think that every marriage has it's rough spots. And what will make you successful in your union, is how you approach them. In my experience, communication is key.

Matt and I talk about EVERYTHING!!! And I mean, everything. We have discussions about where we want to be in one month, one year, five years, you get the idea. We talk about our kids, about assingment of chores, the dog, the cars, bills and paychecks, alcohol consumption, others marriages, others kids, our jobs, and our thoughts on Jesus and the afterlife. We never run out of things to talk about. Yeah, some of it's gossip. Who cares? And when I have a problem, I don't call my best friend, my Mom or my sister. I talk to Matt first. Even if the problem is with him. If I can't discuss it with him, what kind of marriage do we have?

And let me tell you, I have plenty of issues with my husband. Some things are teeny-tiny and others are pretty big. My buddies have called off their marriages completely for things "smaller" than issues we have. It makes me so sad.

I always knew that a good marriage was not going to an endless date where you get to spend the night with your boyfriend. It's real work. You're combining two totally different people with different backgrounds and upbringings and ideals. And you need to try to seam these things together. No one has everything in common. Thank goodness, that would be boring!!!

I have to say, I have never believed in the "d-word." It seriously hurts me to hear about couples separating. I know that there are some healthy reasons to call off you marriage. But some people give up so easily. It make me really sad. Hey, maybe you were never a match made in Heaven. It doesn't mean that you can't work towards that goal with your spouse.

And to quote one of my new favorite movies, "Enchanted"

“Oh, how long will they have to be separated?” she asks sympathetically, and then tears spring to her eyes: “Forever and ever?” Robert murmurs to her to hush, "because they’re in pain," and she says, “Of course they’re in pain—they’re being separated forever!” By now, the husband is dabbing at his eyes. Later in the movie the reunited couple reappears, now quite cuddly. The wife delivers this forthright line: “Everybody has problems, everybody has bad times. Do we sacrifice all the good times for that? No.”

Isn't a union for a lifetime such a beautiful thought? I know I want to be married to Matt "forever and ever". And he feels the same way. We talk about that, too. Instead of just saying, "I love you" all the time (which we do a lot of anyway), we will also just whisper to each other, "you're mine forever" or "you're totally stuck with me no matter what". I think it's cute, and it's a different affirmation of how we think of the future. I love it.

I support my friends 100%, no matter if they date for life, get married, divorced and married again, etc. I'm not judging them at all. I'm simply wondering how they went from stars in their eyes with their true love, to never discussing the fact that they were married for years. I guess I can't relate.

Matt and I don't even use the "d- word." It's just too depressing. Maybe we're old fashioned. And I like it that way.