And so February comes to an end, and so does this series of Marriage Month blogposts.  This month and the run-up to this month has been an adventure.  I have experienced some major breakthroughs, and always a struggle beforehand!  Even the idea to do this month came after a morning of battling with discouragement and fighting with Mark and wanting to just curl up in bed. Having just missed the bus that comes every 10-15 minutes, I told God that unless a bus came in the next 2 minutes I was going home and going to bed! 

30 seconds later a bus pulled round the corner and I laughed at God’s grace.  (Don’t ask me to explain the theology on that one!) That morning He spoke to me about not only writing some posts on marriage, but asking others to do the same and making a month of it! 

And then amazingly, it all came together and happened!

I have learned a lot.  Not just about marriage but about writing and blogging and how much work it takes to be a regular blogger!

And now the ‘thank you’s:  Thank you to those who spent time contributing – those who took the time to think and seek God and offer a vulnerable part of themselves.  It has been a richer month because of you.  Thank you to Mark for giving me time and space to not only work on posts but edit and post all the contributions for the month (thankfully I found a way to schedule them all each week so I didn’t have to post every day.) Mark, you are unbelievably supportive and encouraging. Thank you.

I also wanted to say thank you to three other people: Jo Saxton for lighting a spark in me to write blogposts a few years ago, back when she invited me to join some regular contributors to a monthly webmagazine,  Katty Velasquez for designing the logo for this month –Gracias, amiga. ¡Te pasate! and to Nancy Lane for reading some of my more vulnerable posts and encouraging me to post them! Thank you Nancy, for your encouragement and enthusiasm especially when I was doubting it all!  

And so what’s next?

Well, I am hoping to put the posts together into e-book.  I am aware that this month there has been lots of content, and perhaps the feeling of things going too fast to keep up with.  Putting the posts together in a downloadable form will hopefully allow people to read them at their leisure. 

I am also hoping to get the posts translated into Spanish.  We are so rich in the Western English-speaking world with the sheer quantity of good quality reading material. I know that the wisdom that so many have shared this month would be really appreciated by the Peruvians I know and love and also by so many Latinos beyond. 

There have been many times this month I have wanted to give up.  I wondered whether it was worth the effort and work to get all the posts together.  But then, I remembered if this was God’s idea, He was responsible for the fruit.  I was just responsible for being obedient.  And so even though at times it hasn’t ‘felt’ easy, I know that God wanted this month for a reason. 

And thank you, readers for reading the posts! For sharing, commenting and sending me messages of encouragement – many of those came just as I was struggling with doubt and discouragement and were little hugs from God.  

Father, it was from You and for You.  Thank you for letting me be a part.  

And to finish this month, I also wanted to take a moment to recommend two books to you, that have really helped me in my marriage.  One is Love and Respect by Emerson Eggerichs, which I found really insightful and encouraging (although there were a few things I questioned!), and Sacred Marriageby Gary Thomas.  I really wish I had read both of those books before or shortly after getting married - I think it would have saved a lot of grief!