What A Map of Nova Scotia Taught Me About Marriage {Building Marriage}

Did you suspect that my quirky habit of consuming travel guide books cover-to-cover for months before a trip would turn into a blog post just days before we set out on one of our big world adventures?

Me neither. But here I am, thinking about a conversation Joel and I had on our way home from an event the other day.

In a few days, we’ll be embarking on a knock-it-off-my-bucket list adventure to Prince Edward Island. (I wrote this before we left.) And I know, right? All of our Anne of Green Gables loving hearts are a-fluttering right now! And with respect to our love of exploring, Nova Scotia made the “must see” list. You know, “since we’re up there anyway!”

That’s how we roll, and it means lots of miles on our rental cars because we rarely spend 2 nights in the same city during our annual 2 Week J&A World Adventures. We’ve learned how to live on the go!

But what does this have to do with marriage?

Driving home from an event the week before we left, I was telling Joel that I was struggling with our Nova Scotia itinerary. The country looks pretty small on the map, but our 2.5 days there was just a little inadequate to see everything I highlighted in the Nova Scotia section of my trusty travel book.

A thought struck me. What if we went totally outside the box? Maybe followed the example of (probably the wiser) people and instead of following our wanderlusting urge to see as much of the country as we could cram into our 2.5 days…what if we picked just a few places to really explore?

It makes sense to you, right? It’s a novel concept for us. :)

I was forgetting to focus on what we were going to see in my concern for all the amazing experiences we would be missing by not driving across the entire country. I get so focused on missing out that I forget to celebrate the amazing, rich, beautiful things right in front of me.

Will I miss soaking in the rich and salty sights of Lunenburg because it’s passing by in a blur on our way to Peggy’s Cove?

Marriage is the same. Do you sometimes forget all the amazing, rich, beautiful parts of marriage because you’ve become hyper-focused on all the parts that aren’t exactly what you wanted? Do you miss out on the wonderful and unique things you have together because you’re comparing it to what you think everybody else’s marriage looks like?

You wish so much that he would help with housecleaning that you forget to appreciate him for running errands for you after he gets off work. You wish that she would just let you stay home to watch football on the weekends instead of begging you to spend the day hanging out with mutual friends – but you forget that she stays home all week to take care of the kids and keep your household running smoothly.

Instead of worrying about the things you think you’re missing out on, free yourself up to enjoy the beautiful things that you do have together.

For everything you think you’re missing out on in your marriage, can you think of one amazing thing that you wouldn’t trade for the world?

Here’s to building stronger marriages!

*hugs*

Amber