Love stories

As i approach my anniversary of seventeen years of marriage i look at the start of my marriage and the sacrifices made along the way.  My coming together with my husband was truly an act of faith.  We didn't date very long (two months to be exact), we didn't know each other well enough to even have a spark of love in our relationship.  When i speak of how i got married to my husband and the small time frame around it most people are amazed that it worked out for us. It's easy to look at how much love we have for each now but there was a treacherous road along the way.
Falling in love with my husband was truly an act of faith.  Knowing in my heart that we belonged together even when my feelings towards him weren't in agreement with the faith i was placing in the marriage.  Marriage is a great work in progress one that will bring much love and happiness if we are able to withstand the rough roads.  Most people give up on relationships at the sight of any difficulty that may arise.  Most  begin a relationship with being head over heals in love but tend to forget that the two people that make up a relationship come with two different personalities.  Sometimes the biggest sacrifice comes in the form of not always being right and not always having things done our way. 
I would say the most important factor of a marriage is our fear for God but the second most important factor is faith that even thou there might be tension in the marriage right now believe without a shadow of doubt that you will overcome it and the love you have for each other will grow.
The same thing happens in our relationship with God, it becomes refined through our trials through the growth of our faith believing that bigger is He who is for us than the trials we face.   
We also need to believe that bigger is the love we have in our relationship than the trials that arise against it.
I pray that you will use your faith to overcome the trials in your marriage so that one day you can reap the reward of a great love story.  Remember any great love story comes with battles that had to be overcome.