{"id":179,"date":"2016-12-16T16:31:32","date_gmt":"2016-12-16T22:31:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tjdaughertyblog.wordpress.com\/?p=179"},"modified":"2016-12-16T16:31:32","modified_gmt":"2016-12-16T22:31:32","slug":"five-things-ive-learned-in-my-first-year-of-marriage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/tjdaugherty\/five-things-ive-learned-in-my-first-year-of-marriage\/","title":{"rendered":"Five Things I’ve Learned in My First Year of Marriage"},"content":{"rendered":"

FIVE THINGS I\u2019VE LEARNED IN MY FIRST YEAR OF MARRIAGE<\/p>\n

One year ago, with sweaty palms (and nose) and a racing pulse, I stared deeply into the eyes of the woman I love and vowed before God and all our friends and family to love her for the rest of my life. I promised her that I would be the best husband I could possibly be, even though at that time I did not fully understand what that actually looked like.<\/p>\n

I grew up in an excellent home where I got to see a healthy marriage play out in front of me every single day. Although it was far from perfect, my parents intentionally modeled a biblical example of marriage for both my brother and me. In fact, I can remember from a very young age some of the most powerful words that my father ever said to us: \u201cIf I only teach you boys one thing in my life, it\u2019ll be how to love a woman.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

With that example taking place in front of my eyes for more than two and a half decades, I believed I had a pretty good grasp of what to expect from marriage. In addition, my wife\u2019s parents had done the exact same thing for her.<\/p>\n

During the time of our engagement, I took all the necessary steps to prepare for my life to come. I read (literally) dozens of books on marriage. I received premarital counseling. I sought wisdom from many pastors and godly couples, both those who had been married for most of their lives and from those who were in the early stages of marriage themselves. I prayed often. I read Scripture. I asked questions. I sought answers.<\/p>\n

And so I walked into marriage tentatively expecting to have most of it figured out.<\/p>\n

And in some ways, I was not truly surprised by anything in our first year. I had prepared well. More importantly, I had been prepared well by others.<\/p>\n

But there is absolutely a difference between \u201cknowing\u201d something based on what someone tells you and truly knowing<\/em> something based on your own experience. And in my first year of marriage, there are a number of things that I have come to truly know<\/em>.<\/p>\n