I haven’t written in a long time, so this is me just getting some muddled thoughts onto the screen. My mom taught me a lot growing up but one thing I remember when it comes to writing is that sometimes you just have to start writing even if you aren’t sure where your end point is, and it will eventually start to flow.

On Josh and I’s two month anniversary I had this thought……

I love these days where we count every moment together. Where we document and notice many of our “firsts” as a married couple. The times when we remember with new amazement and excitement that we are The Bowers! I love it. Right now we have been married 88 days, 2,112 hours, 126,720 minutes. And soon it will be three months. But here is an honest and true thought I had, I look forward to the days, the months, and the years where we don’t even realize how much time has gone by, how many month anniversaries we have missed, and we just instinctively know who gets what side of the bed, because our lives are so utterly glued together that we hardly can remember the time we were a part. I look forward to that. 

Yesterday I celebrated 23 years of life. What a gift! 

For me, birthdays come with a lot of thinking and reflecting. Looking back and looking forward. There is nothing that quite marks the fleeting nature of life like the end of an age. I don’t mind getting older, I just mind not being better. My hope for this year (and this life) is that as my age increases so would my understanding of God and my comfort in my own skin. I have spent a majority of my life struggling through insecurity and the crushing weight of comparison, but this year I speak Grace! Grace! over my life and believe wholeheartedly God will continue to redeem me. 

I told my husband that the year of 16, 21, and 22 were the most growth filled of my life and I pray that over 23.

Marriage has changed me. Of course in the obvious ways but also in the not so obvious. I believe that marriage has increased my platform. What I mean by this is that I have been given more area to learn and to speak. Josh has taught me a freaking ton. And not in a “let me teach you how to be a real wife Em” but in a “I love you” and that, simply, is the example. I have never been more aware of God, inspired in prayer, or committed to reading Gods word. Doing life as a team is more powerful then I know how to put into words. Also, I am constantly laughing.