4 years
48 months
208.5 weeks
1,460 days
35,040 hours
2,102,400 minutes
126,144,000 seconds
We are celebrating 4 years of marriage today, and let me say this has been a journey. This journey has revealed my areas of weakness, selfishness, and insecurities. When you are married it completely exposes all of your facades, and I am forever thankful. Phillip gets to see the raw truth of who I am, and still, he chooses me every single day. ( What a guy😍) In honor of our anniversary here is a little backstory.
Throwback Thursday: Love story edition:
Phillip and I met at church almost 7 years ago, and this was NOT love at first sight at all. That’s probably my favorite part of our story was that it was really a God surprise for me. Phillip revealed to me he was my husband after a year of friendship. I wish I could tell y’all how crazy I thought this man was. (At this time in my life I didn’t know God spoke to his children and I honestly thought the idea of it was creepy). I dismissed him, and that’s putting it nicely 😂. We focused on building our friendship, and after two years he had indeed become my best friend and most significant encouragement. Long story short God revealed that Phillip was the man he had chose for me. I was not excited initially but more embarrassed because I had spent so much time telling people he was not my husband. (I learned a huge lesson here.)
Before we jumped into the courting/ dating process, we took essential steps. We went on a 3-day communication fast to remove all distraction and voices. We also sought wise counsel from the leaders in our life. After many green lights, we began our journey together. During our fast, I thought that we would merely be getting confirmation from God. To my surprise, Phillip came with a long list of notes, and excel sheet and a 5 to 10-year life plan. (Ok, that was dramatic, but his list of notes was super long). The biggest thing that came from his list was his plan of not kissing until our wedding day. (YES, you read that correctly). I was completely shocked. Phillip explained to me that he wanted me to know he loved me and it wasn't influenced by anything physical. He wanted us to have a spiritual and emotional connection without any distraction. How many men make this commitment entirely on their own? This was a huge deal for someone with a background of sexual abuse.
During our courting process, there was minimal physical touch. I was a bit extra about our boundaries. We hugged and held hands ever so often. We didn't have the typical story of the butterfly feelings and the head over hills kind of emotions. For a while, I prayed for those moments to just hit me, but very soon I realized that falling in love was more than a feeling. It was a significant commitment. God knew my call to purity so he sent me a man who would guard & fight to protect mine every chance he got. I realize this isn't the popular choice, but I am happy it was ours.
Phillip and I officially started courting November 11, 2013. We were engaged July 12th, 2014, and I danced my way down the altar to him December 6th, 2014.
Here we are 4 years and almost two babies later still learning and growing in our marriage. I am forever grateful that I waited on Gods best for my life, and now we get to establish a new legacy together. If you are reading this, I want to encourage you to allow God to be the author of your love story, after all, he knows what you need far more than you.
We are coming to YouTube with our first episode real soon, we will talk about all things marriage. Nothing is off limits. Stay tuned.
Remember you are divinely loved.
Xoxo, Graycefully, Sabrina