How One Big Decision Changed The Entire Course of Our Marriage – Guest Post with Olivia Pirtle!

For today’s Mocha, we’re are so honored to have our sweet J&A Bride Olivia Pirtle joining us! We photographed Olivia and Derek’s wedding back in 2015, and we have been so blessed to call this amazing couple our dear friends. They’re the kind of friends we get together with for dinner and hear the words, “Oh hey! By the way, we bought another business.” Our entrepreneurial hearts connect on that level of crazy, and we love being able to cheer them on through all of it!

Olivia and Derek have huge servant hearts that continually inspire us. They are super involved with their church (Church of the Highlands) and tirelessly help coordinate their church’s SERVE efforts. Their love for the Lord shows in every single part of their lives. We’re so happy to hear some thoughts from Olivia today!

The Best Hardest Life’s Adventure

Olivia Pirtle

“When I married my husband—I knew he loved to travel, he loved adventure and jumping off of anything tall. I expected to travel, do something with missions overseas (at some point) and that I’d probably take him to the hospital for this or that.

I was in no way prepared for the adventure we began December 28^th, 2015: the day we got married.

Instead of boring you with the day to day details—I’m going to skip ahead 7 months. We decided (yes we are apparently crazy) to purchase a darling little diner-style burger restaurant that’s been around since 1951. At first, everything was a thrill, a new encounter, a quest. Once we survived that first month of owning a restaurant—reality began. We were stretched and busy like I didn’t know was possible. I counted French fries, ran the register and payroll. Derek ordered food in such large amounts, changed the grease and tried to manage employees too. We were too tired to fight, interact or rest. We went through life much like robots for the first few months.

Now, almost a year later—I can say that purchasing our restaurant was one of the best/hardest/dumbest/wonderful things we could have done for our marriage.

I think buying it expedited the number of things we faced our first year of marriage. We learned how to budget (not just for a home), we ate a lot of burgers, and we learned to say no to more and more things so basic things like sleep could happen. We lost our weekends to do anything with friends but gained them together—working hard side by side. We worked toward a common goal.

I think this big decision and the hundreds of mini ones that happened after July 1, 2016 (when we bought Dub’s) grew our marriage exponentially. We argued about life changing things instead of what we were having for dinner. We endured false rumors being spread about our marriage, employee drama, health department reviews and lots of maintenance on things in the middle of the night (*Nothing ever breaks at a convenient time). We fought hard for our marriage and the Lord blessed our efforts. He gave us a new dependency (a quiet desperation) on Him—essentially we would have failed a million times over without him.

Things still true a year later:

~We still spend every weekend together serving the public.

~We appreciate little things so much more—like an afternoon off or a drama-free day.

~We know names of people in our community—not just faces.

~We get to do ministry exactly where we are at.

~Life is always a surprise and an adventure.

~We may never be millionaires but I wouldn’t trade this life for anything.

~The Lord sustains us.”

{Olivia, thank you so much for sharing your amazing words with us! You are such a dear friend and an encouragement!

If you’d like to read more marriage encouragement from our A Mocha For Your Tuesday, check out the power of assumptions and about following those who are all ready there! To have some of our favorite Mochas and wedding tips delivered straight to your inbox, join our online community!}