The Antelope in the Living Room: The Real Story of Two People Sharing One Life

When I look in his eyes, I don’t see perfection. I don’t see a love story that would necessarily be something people would watch on a big screen and dream about. I see someone who will fight for me and protect me and love me in spite of all the ways I am still a wreck. I see home. Wherever he is. That’s my home.

Not one thing we've done changes that we are his. That he created us and loves us with a love more fierce and loyal than any we will ever know. He isn't looking for perfection. He's looking for humble hearts that know we are nothing without his lavish grace.

I think it can be easy to settle for less than you deserve just because less is right in front of you and the best may still be unseen. But I guarantee there are many women in marriages who are so lonely that they long for their single days when at least they had the hope of finding someone who would understand them, love them, and care for them.

And you know what I realize now? That we're all waiting on something, no matter where we are in life. It's the human condition.

In a lot of ways home improvement is like marriage. It’s not glamorous. It can take a lot of hard work and effort. There are days it feels like it might be easier to burn the whole thing to the ground and start all over again. Then you remember how much you love the house or your husband and you recommit yourself to what it takes to see the whole thing through. Even when it might involve paintbrushes and compromise and sanding and scraping all the rough edges. And when you look back on a tough patch a few months after the worst has passed, you don’t remember all the hard work and the tears. You just have the satisfaction of knowing you’ve made something beautiful.

As a new mom, your life changes overnight. Your priorities change, you forget to brush your teeth, you aren’t sure how you’re ever going to balance all your new responsibilities, and it’s overwhelming. Not to mention that your body that used to be almost purely recreational has become much like a dairy cow but not as delicate and petite.

And it’s a reminder that Mr. Right isn’t out there. There’s just Mr. Right-for-You. He may look totally different from what’s right for your best friend. Your marriage is a unique being with as much of its own DNA as you and your husband bring to the table. I remember early on in our marriage, Perry and I were friends with a couple who did everything together, even grocery shopping. I thought something was wrong with us because we had so many separate interests. But that’s just who we are. It’s not wrong; it’s different.

I believe there is no greater act of marital love or martyrdom than attending an event involving your spouse’s family without your spouse in attendance.

When I look back on the sixteen years Perry and I have been married, I can see the places where we've made each other better. There are parts of us etched into each other like the rings in the trunk of a tree. We've grown, we've changed, we've been forever marked. And ultimately, we are so much better together than either of us would be on our own.

But ultimately we attempted to find some middle ground because at the end of the day we love each other in spite of all our many and vast differences.

realize it’s just money. It comes and goes, but never once has it bought anyone real, lasting happiness.

don’t know how a bride these days ever manages to wade through the myriad of hairstyle options and wedding favors and whether or not to have her bridal portrait taken in the back of an old vintage truck or in a field of sunflowers.

the detailed explanation was part of his charm. To this day, he loves nothing more than to lecture on a variety of topics.

arguing over whether $100 is too much to pay for a pair of jeans.

Love is friendship that has caught fire. It is quiet understanding, mutual confidence, sharing and forgiving. It is loyalty through good and bad times. It settles for less than perfection and makes allowances for human weaknesses.” Yes.

After sixteen years of being married, I can safely say that marriage tends to amplify whatever junk is in your life.

But at the end of it all, you’re two people God has joined to journey through life together. For better or for worse. In hunting season and in health.

Not one thing we’ve done changes that we are his. That he created us and loves us with a love more fierce and loyal than any we will ever know. He isn’t looking for perfection. He’s looking for humble hearts that know we are nothing without his lavish grace.