Love Letters: Seven Marriage Moments, No. 1

For years, tons of my beloved readers have asked me to weigh in on their love queries. It’s been pretty fun and one of the most popular features on Soul In Stereo.

But allow me to be a little selfish for once. For the next week, it’s all about me and my wifey.

In six days, my wife and I will celebrate seven years of marriage.

GOOD LORD WE ARE OLD.

Leading up to the big day, I’m going to count down the seven most monumental moments of marriage (feel that alliteration). Some of those stories might be sickeningly sweet but trust me, there was plenty of drama too. Hopefully our ups and downs will show you that beauty thrives in imperfection.

The year was 2009 and the country was in the midst of a crippling recession. I had friends who had been out of work for months. So what did I do?

Quit my job.

Like me, the wife was a journalist in Louisville, Ky., but she had an outstanding offer to return to her hometown of Birmingham to teach at a performing arts high school, her alma mater.

The world of newspapers was going through a ton of transition at the time and the wife was ready to move on. Despite that uncertainty I was actually doing pretty well for myself as an editor. Giving that up to follow my wife to Birmingham when I had ZERO job prospects in a recession seemed … insane.

But that’s what we did. We lived with my wife’s parents while the she worked and I hunted for employment. Eventually I landed an editing job at an advertising agency, which later became a social media/community role, which led to my current columnist gig at AL.com, the biggest online news site in Alabama.

Lesson of the day: Sometimes we get caught up in that caveman mentality of “the woman follows the man.” Playa please! What we should be saying is “the family follows God.” I prayed endlessly before we made the decision to move and it worked out for the best. We never went hungry or missed paying a bill. No one ever directly said I was crazy for following my wife with no job prospects in sight but it was implied MANY times. Time has proved we made the right choice (especially since the publication the wifey worked for in Louisville folded soon after she left).

Don’t be afraid to take chances but make sure your decisions are spirit-led.