7.3.17

It has been one year since my best day, 7/3/16, the day I stood up to marry the love of my life. As I sit here penning this first blog post in ages, I am overcome with emotions, at the magnitude of this year..

A year ago as I walked the aisle, to change from Goetz to Meassick, Miss to Mrs. and to become Cody’s bride, our guests read a message that came from my heart in those days leading up to the ceremony. Cody referenced my writing, as it echoed both of our views about what we were about to do. As I sit here a year later, I would like to share that message again with you:

Dear Family and Friends,
We just wanted to take a moment to personally express our feelings and hopes as we enter this new journey of marriage. If you know us well you know we “complement” each other. Any couple that’s been around for a while knows that complementing sometimes is not such a pretty action. It is a hard business and we have caught small glimpses of that alright. It’s hard work. But we do truly complement one another. Cody is a strong, charasmatic, leader, passionate about his ambitions and competent in his areas of expertise. Sarah is relational and creative, expressing leadership through empathy. We will learn so much from the other.

We never want it to be spoken that we are perfect for one another, because in all honesty we are not. Many of you know that, I, Sarah, am passionate about finding the beauty in broken things. And it is my deepest desire that true beauty comes from the union of two broken souls painting the beautiful picture of Christ’s unconditional love for his broken people. This is something we can only hope for today and trust that God will bring to fruition. We are so thankful that you have joined us today to support the broken becoming beautiful, of two becoming one. It is our hope and desire that from this day forward you, our friends and family, look at us as one. Love us as one. And when we do that hard work of “complementing,” you fight for us as one, no longer just Cody and no longer just Sarah but as one. Thank you for sharing in the start of this amazing journey and celebrating with us today!

It was not a year of “wedded bliss” as I once heard the first year referred to by another couple, but quite the opposite, a year of “complementing” in the best and hardest ways. We fought and continue to fight over the chores and work of being first time homeowners. I experienced the “lovely” side-effects that come with birth control: mood swings, yeast infections, UTIs.  Cody had the pleasure of coming along side hormone-zilla in our first months. I was terrified at who I was becoming as a wife for many long months in the winter.

But just as I wrote one year ago, these broken moments have been made beautiful by the ways Cody has chosen to love me unconditionally through this year. In the last months and weeks, I have felt a change in my heart, because when I roll over every morning, instead of feeling unsettled, I feel deeply loved. Even in one year, I can see the ways that I have learned from Cody: a good rester, a steady presence, and a strong soul. And I can see the things Cody has learned from me: empathy, emotion, relationship and affirmation.

We have enjoyed laughing together, developing a mission and a passion for mentoring and serving others, setting up a Christmas tree and making a paint strip calendar, and soon welcoming a new little one into our family as we begin parenting together. While we have so much more “complementing” to do, I can say that the love I have for Cody on 7.3.17, an ordinary summer day, is even stronger than the love I felt on 7.3.16, our wedding day.