Zac and I recently recorded a podcast episode together, and it brought up so many memories of our story - the messy beginning, the hard years, and the grace of where we are now.

We’ve been married about 28 years…I think. We honestly forgot. But we’ve lived a lot of life: four kids, long-distance dating, getting married at twenty, a honeymoon Jeep with a hole in the floor, and those early years that were honestly so hard. I remember sitting on the floor in a fancy dress on our honeymoon thinking, What have I done? I don’t even know this guy.

And it didn’t magically get better. We had the same fight over and over - me feeling invisible and missed, him shutting down and going inward. One morning after another night of that cycle, everything changed. We did two full years of weekly counseling. I got help. He got help. And slowly, God rebuilt us.

Today? He’s my best friend. I still think about our first date getting stuck in Branson traffic, both of us reading My Utmost for His Highest, and feeling like the Holy Spirit was playing ping pong with our conversation. When we hugged at the end before he drove me home, I thought, We fit. I still think that.

So if you’re in a hard season - dating, engaged, or deep into marriage - don’t give up too fast. Those years are taxing. They require everything. But I said it in the episode, and I mean it: I’m just so glad we didn’t quit when it was hard.

With love,

Jennie