Vote For The Best Unending Love Story!
Thank you to everyone who submitted their thoughts and ideas on what inspires an Unending Love Story! We were in awe of some of the heartfelt and inspirational stories of love and commitment. The votes have been tallied and the winner of the Unending Love Story Contest is Stacie Rockhill of Syracuse, NY! Enjoy her winning entry below:
Ours is not a fairy tale love story with romantic beginnings and happy endings, nor is it all "sunshine and roses". Our love story is one of trials, tough times, growing up, and love that kept us together through it all.
Steve and I almost met in our 2nd year of college. I say almost because when I approached a mutual friend in order to get introduced to him, he thought I was "out of his league" and walked away. For 2 years we watched one another from afar, never talking. Then, in the summer of '93 Steve was in a near fatal industrial accident. About 6 weeks later school re-started and he decided he was going to finally meet me. Life was too short. The night we met we talked until 3 or 4 in the morning. Unfortunately, I had scars and walls on and around my heart from previous relationship. Steve patiently waited while my walls came down. In 1996 we were married.
From the beginning, we had our tough times. We didn't know it at the time, but Steve struggled with depression since his teens. It never had a name though. He just withdrew sometimes into what he called "a funk". Before our first wedding anniversary we found out we were expecting our first child. We were thrilled and terrified because Steve was just about to start full time grad school. Money was beyond tight. Our daughter arrived and while we were experiencing great joy in her, our relationship with each other was struggling. Money, stress, Steve's "funks", my post-baby hormones... it got scary for a while. One day I even threatened to jump out of our moving car and walk nearly 100 miles home. I was battling post-partum depression and didn't realize it at the time.
We worked together to make it through those financial and emotionally tough years, sometimes barely hanging on, but always knowing we loved one another and were committed to making our marriage work. Our finacial circumstances improved when Steve completed grad school. He got a good job and I started staying home with our daughter. When baby #2 was on the way, we decided to buy a house and move closer to the city where Steve worked. I was thrilled when we were looking for houses and I saw a "MOPS meets here" sign on a church in the neighborhood where we were looking for houses. Little did Steve and I know but that church and that MOPS group would be more of a blessing to our marriage and our lives then we ever could have known.
After our second child was born, I again struggled with post partum depression and Steve was still struggling with his "funks". At the neighborhood mothers group (MOPS) I had learned that there was more to faith then just believing Jesus and God were real. I learned God loved me and wanted to be in a relationship with me. I prayed to have Jesus forgive my sins and lead my life. The first thing God showed me was Steve and I needed help. We got counseling and Steve's funks got a name.. depression. It wasn't our fault. It wasn't me or him or "us" it was a medical condition he'd been struggling with and never knew. God also showed me Steve and I needed to start looking for a local church to attend and raise our children in. One Sunday we attended the church were my mother's group met. Steve realized there had been something missing in his life too, and that Sunday he prayed to receive Christ.
Since that time, our lives and relationship have been very different. We have faced job loss, finacial difficulties, depression (his and my post pardum after baby #2 and #3), the loss of loved ones, and a variety of daily struggles. Except since we both accepted Christ, we know our marriage is a union of 3 and we are not alone during our struggles. We are still learning God's plan for our marriage. We are learning how to use His word to help us communicate better with each other, how to parent better and how to love more deeply. We have been married 13 years now. We have 3 beautiful children. We have been members of the church with the mother's group (MOPS) for 6 years now. We have learned how God can take 2 imperfect people and bring them together and keep them together in a beautiful and holy union - with Him and each other. Is our relationship perfect and "romantic"? No, it's better then that. It's imperfect just like we are but it is strengthened by God and as we are growing closer to Him, we are growing closer to each other. What more could we ask for??