This is how this blog began....

I talked with a friend again today and I can't even say how many times I've had this conversation with different girlfriends. MARRIAGE IS HARD! You have to WORK at it. You get rough spots. You fight. The flame dies. You want to hit your partner with a shovel, put them through a blender and pour them down the drain. You want to leave. But you don't. Because real love isn't Hollywood, Disney, happily-ever-after-bullshit. It's committing to one person and MAKING IT WORK. It's knowing that you will always have someone on your side. It's pushing though poverty, it's struggling through sickness, it's holding on though hardships until your souls become so intertwined that you meld into one heart. 

Love is NOT a feeling. It's an act of your will. 

Wanting out sometimes is normal, we all feel like that at times. But if you leave every time the honeymoon is over you will always be lonely and alone. You will never feel the rock solid, soul entangled love that comes from WORKING at it.

 Fight for your love. 

It's the only way you'll ever really have it.

Carrie Koens - "Love is as much an act of the will as it is an emotion, and if you will to love someone, you can." Ravi Zacharias's brother when he was about to enter an arranged marriage... and the quote that is responsible for knocking me for a loop and making me fall for Peter.  Wise words.

Jessie Bekker – I am one of the divorce statistics, but how do you build on something that was never even there? A marriage is yours to make or break. It is only the two of you who can make it work. If it’s important enough for both of you, you will fight for it. Everybody has problems and issues, some more than others. But we have to try again and again to find solutions, stoke the fires and keep the flame alive. Love is the greatest thing to fight for. It is our most precious possession, especially if we have kids.

Marcelle De Jongh – With hard work comes great reward. It is AMAZING to find a life partner who understands you, supports you and defs just loves you for being you.

Lee Leanie Smith - A marriage can only work if both parties are willing to fight for it.

Elbie Richter - We are never too old to learn! Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out. -John Wooden