Blessed

Tomorrow, Tim and I will celebrate 16 years of marriage. There are so many things I could say about our marriage and what these years have meant, but I’m distracted by thoughts of Lexie this morning. She and a bunch of other fifth-graders are taking part in a county-wide speech contest on environmental issues, and the parents have been invited to hear the students’ speeches this morning. (Hers is on road salt.) Lexie has worked hard preparing her speech and I know she’ll do well. But still.

And, really, that’s the thing about marriage. You’re just doing your best to hold steady together in the center while everything is spinning around you. You try not to let it all get to you and you try not to take your frustrations out on each other. On good days, you’re glad to be married to this person. On bad days, well, there’s always tomorrow. (By the way, I agree with Madeleine L’Engle, who said that it’s okay if you go to bed angry because you never wake up angry. It flies in the face of conventional wisdom, but it’s so true.)

When I first heard this song by Martina McBride, I teared up and laughed all at the same time because it was like the writer had peeked into my life, down to the hardwood floors and front porch swing. Have you heard it?

Blessed
Martina McBride

I get kissed by the sun each morning
Put my feet on a hardwood floor
I get to hear my children laughing
Down the hall through the bedroom door
Sometimes I sit on my front porch swing
Just soaking up the day
I think to myself, I think to myself
This world is a beautiful place

I have been blessed
And I feel like I’ve found my way
I thank God for all I’ve been given
At the end of every day
I have been blessed
With so much more than I deserve
To be here with the ones that love me
To love them so much it hurts
I have been blessed

Across a crowded room
I know you know what I’m thinking
By the way I look at you
And when we’re lying in the quiet
And no words have to be said
I think to myself, I think to myself
This love is a beautiful gift

I have been blessed
And I feel like I’ve found my way
I thank God for all I’ve been given
At the end of every day
I have been blessed
With so much more than I deserve
To be here with the ones that love me
To love them so much it hurts
I have been blessed

When I’m singing my kids to sleep
When I feel you holding me
I know

I have been blessed
And I feel like I’ve found my way
I thank God for all I’ve been given
At the end of every day
I have been blessed
With so much more than I deserve
To be here with the ones that love me
To love them so much it hurts
I have been blessed