Two Years Down

Earlier this week, my wife (Michaela) and I celebrated our two year wedding anniversary and by “celebrated,” I mean stressed out about placing an offer on a house but that’s for another blog. It feels like just the other day that we were having our makeshift wedding in the beginning of the pandemic and looking back, it was perfect. The first two years of marriage have been full of great times and full of challenging times (if our “honeymoon” was any indication, you understand).

Marriage has been both amazing and challenging – it’s the perfect example of how life can be many different things all at once. This is a short blog is a simple “check-in” to highlight the best part of marriage and the most challenging part of marriage through the first two years.

___________________________________________________

Before getting married, I remember asking an older man for his biggest lesson from 50+ years of marriage. He took a thoughtful pause, looked at me and said, “you might not always like her but you always have to love her.” With two years behind us, I still like AND love you, Michaela.

The Best Part

So far, the best part of marriage has been sharing my life fully with my best friend. It’s a simple statement that I can’t find the right words for at the moment. It’s just such an incredible experience to know that you have a teammate for life who you can love and who loves you through the ups, downs, twists, turns and everything in between. The quote at the end of the blog sums this up.

The Hardest Part

The hardest part of marriage has been realizing that we are, and will continue to grow as individuals and that we need to be intentional in also growing together. I’m not sure how that would be possible without the faith that we share and that’s a blog for another time. For now, I’m grateful that the hardest part of marriage is also an amazing part – growing together over time is something that will challenge, refine and bond us in ways that I know we can’t see just yet.

If you’d like to read my one-year reflection, you can do so here.

___________________________________________________

The biggest lesson through the first two years of marriage is that love is a commitment and an action. It shows up even when it’s inconvenient, uncomfortable and hard. True love is selfless and unconditional. Here’s to many more years of marriage and lifetime full of love.

“To be loved but not known is comforting but superficial. To be known and not loved is our greatest fear. But to be fully known and truly loved is, well, a lot like being loved by God. It is what we need more than anything. It liberates us from pretense, humbles us out of our self-righteousness, and fortifies us for any difficulty life can throw at us.”

Tim Keller

Thank you for reading!

Joe Rinaldi

IG: @joearinaldi

P.S. If you enjoy my content and want to support me while getting access to my exclusive email and audio newsletter, please click here. I appreciate your time, consideration and support so much!

P.P.S. If you enjoyed this blog, I’d love for you to subscribe below (one email per month).