Just Married Ten Years Ago

TEN YEARS ago today, March 13, 2013, Bob and I were married. We weren’t spring chickens anymore and there were a whole lot of years behind us with a whole lot of water under the bridge. I believe, with all that is within me, that it was no accident we reconnected at our 40^th class reunion. Life had not been kind. We were two broken people but together with God’s help, we were made whole! Words that have helped us through these ten years were spoken by the person who married us at the courthouse in Lake Worth. Mom O’Neill and Mike O’Neill, Bob’s mom and brother were there with us.

Taking our wedding vows, these little words made a huge impact that would carry us through the years. “Tiny little adjustments.” We’ve had only a few bumps in the road and nothing too serious. When we’d have a disagreement, we’d remember those words, “Tiny little adjustments.” We’d hug, kiss and make up. We try to remember to never go to bed angry. I won’t lie there have been a couple of times we did, but the next morning we both said we were sorry, and all was forgiven.

There are times we get a little irritated with each other then one of us starts laughing and then the other and we hug each other, and Bob will pray, “Lord forgive us for being biscuits.” Bob’s daughter Dana came up with that. Being a biscuit means, instead of calling someone a bad name she calls them a “biscuit.” It’s just flour, lard, and milk. Not much to it. So, when one of us is being, silly or ridiculous we say, “You’re a biscuit!” It’s a much nicer way of saying, you’re being a jerk…etc.

Every time Bob prays over our food he’ll say, “Jesus, thank you for my Marla and thank you for the food.” I mean, how sweet is that? He’ll say, “I love you more than the moon.” I’ll counter with, “I love you more than all the stars and the planets.” He says, “You win.” Not that it’s a competition but it’s just a little fun game we play while loving each other.

My mom would say, “Life never runs smooth.” And that is certainly true. So, we have to find ways to make it less difficult. When you’re young you make a multitude of mistakes but it’s OK that’s how you learn. If there is something, I could leave you with that will maybe help a little along the way it’s, “Be kind. Be grateful. Be forgiving. Love unconditionally. And remember, tiny little adjustments.”

Also, the number 13 means, “God’s Love!”

Bob, I love you thirteen!

I love you more than…

~Marla O’Neill March 13, 2023

“If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” – 1 Corinthians 13:2-7

The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”… So, the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.” That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh. – Genesis 2:18, 21-24