When I married the man of my dreams 6 years ago I thought our troubles were over. I believed that on that beautiful day he was making a pledge to never leave my side. I felt a new connection that I knew in my heart would bind me to him for all eternity. I believe he had every intention of living every word of his vows. 

You see we were different... we had 'done' life. And we had 3 beautiful daughters to prove it!
What I didn't realise was life was not 'done' with us! My misguided dreams of heading off into the sunset, down a bump free road hand in hand were not to be.
I should point out at this time that we had had our fair share of troubles and worries over the 7 years we had shared. But who hasn't?  I thought we had a strength that only we knew... a bond that would keep us forever understanding the other's point of view...
I couldn't have been more deluded if I had set out to be! Life has a funny way of throwing things at you that your concious refuses to acknowledge are possible to overcome. . .
People close to us have watched as we have made choices for our family that from the outside must have looked like emotional suicide... and by the grace of God they have stood with us and been ready to catch us when we fell.
My dreams of a blissful carefree marriage are a long way behind us. My faith in love is not.
This isn't just any person though... this is MY person. My man. My best friend. He found me. In a dark lonely place. Together we are better. As two individuals we are strong and capable but as ONE we are indestructible.
We have made mistakes independently and as a couple. What matters is what we do with those. Do we run from them, bury them and pretend to the world that we are the perfect Disney characters we once wished we were. Or do we stand up hold on tight and love unconditionally?
I cannot make that choice for anyone but me. And I choose to love, always and fully in all that comes our way.