My Best Friend

Yesterday my husband and I celebrated our 27th wedding anniversary. I write this blog post to honor him and in memory of our anniversary.

Recently as I was thumbing through my latest issue of Real Simple magazine I came across a blog contest - the topic being to write who you're surprised to be friends with.The prize: a month long guest blog on Simply Stated at Real Simple magazine's website to write about friendships/relationships. Since I don't think,that if I won, I could write that much on that subject, I decided to just write about it here on my blog, without entering the contest. Besides,the contest was limited to 300 words, and I don't know that I could say what I have to say in so few words, but then again, maybe I can. In any case, I also doubt I could win, and I simply want to write this as a tribute to my husband.

So, by now you've probably figured out that the person I'm surprised to be friends with is my husband. Sure, we were friends before we became a couple, but I guess I never really thought of us being friends after we got married. Being friends and being a couple are two completely different things, or so I used to think.

The main reason I'm surprised to be friends with my husband is because when I was growing up I didn't see friendship displayed in any of the marriages I witnessed on a regular basis, the main one being my parents' marriage. Followed by my grandparents and my aunts and uncles. My parents loved each other, I knew that, but I never once thought of them as being friends. Then again, I'm sure that as a child I had a very narrow view of friendship. I had girlfriends and that was it. I had guy friends too, over the years, but it never once occurred to me that a married couple could be friends and should be friends.

If I wasn't friends with my husband our marriage would be pretty boring. What is marriage without friendship? Isn't it merely two people simply co-existing side by side?

My husband is my best friend. Besides God, he knows me better than anyone. I am always amazed that no matter how much I try to hide how I'm feeling (if it's negative) he usually knows. He knows, because he loves me and because he is my friend. He is the friend of my heart, my soul mate.

We share life, love, laughter. Ideas, hopes, fears, dreams. We have been through a lot together, he and I. How could he not be my best friend? He encourages me and makes my heart sing. He is self-sacrificing, often putting my needs above his own. He wants the best for me, so much so that if he sees me walking on a path I shouldn't he'll tell me, or not tell me, if he senses God telling him to just be quiet and pray, so that I can figure it out for myself. We share so much of ourselves with each other and still have room to continue learning to know each other and to grow in our relationship as friends and as husband and wife.

I think because we have grown into such great friends, it has made us see each other differently. There is more of a mutual sharing/caring and less having to prove something to each other. There is also a lot less arguing, and more of a gentleness between us when we have things that need to be discussed. We can, after 27 years, converse on difficult issues without raising our voices or attacking one another. It truly is a beautiful thing, because God has made it so, as He's molded and shaped us more and more into the image of His Son, and will continue doing so as we yield our hearts, our marriage, our friendship, to Him.

I know without a doubt that God brought us together, lead us to marriage 27 years ago, to grow us into the best friends we are today.

I am grateful.

Source: http://treasuresfrommyheart.blogspot.com/2011/06/my-best-friend.html

jimmy page nissan gtr beowulf beowulf ela ela toronto maple leafs