Hi, I’m Ashley. I’m 28 years old, a born-and-raised
Washingtonian. I have lived in a small maritime city, Gig Harbor, nearly all my
life, and am now raising my two girls here alongside my studly husband, Ashton.
Ashton and I have been married nearly five years now, and have two daughters
Scotland and Roslyn. They have been the best, yet hardest, years of my life.
They have left me on my knees thanking God and they have left me on my face
crying out to God. They have broken me and they have shaped me. I have seen
beautiful days and I have seen ugly days. One thing that has remained through
every day of my life: I need God and without him I am nothing.
My walk with God has been a
struggle. God got ahold of my life six years ago and saved me. Before that I
was in a downward spiral, and only through an army of friends and family was I
able to turn my life around. Those people are the same army my husband and I
have surrounded ourselves with throughout our marriage. Without them I don’t
believe we would be where we are today. They have seen us at our best and they
have seen us at our ugliest. We are thankful for our army.
Being only five years in, we
are still new at this. But we know enough about marriage to know it is work. It
is work every single day of our life. There are good days and there are hard
days. Throw two kids into the mix and there are just plain ‘ol awful days. All
I know is that God chose me and plucked me right out of the life I was living
to meet the man who I would be married to for the rest of my life. He chose me
to do this life for a reason. My husband is my best friend, and I can’t believe
God chose me to be his wife. Not to mention, he is the foxiest man who ever
walked the planet and without further ado, meet my husband.
ASHTON
Greetings folks, I am the man
fortunate enough to be the husband to my beautiful bride, Ashley, and father to
daughters Scotland and Roslyn. My story has familiar tones along with a few
stark differences. About six years ago I was a second-year law student with it
all put together on the outside…but behind closed doors I had a tough time
understanding what way was up or down. Much of that changed when I decided to
go out to an unsavory bar in Spanaway with some friends from high school. It
was there I ended up meeting the love of my life.
That is right, Ashley and I
met at a bar. Not just a regular ol’ bar, but an unclassy, don’t tell your
parents you went there, type of bar. I was at a bachelor party and I still
don’t know if I have the real story on why she was there. Nonetheless, that is
fairly far in our rearview mirror and it is safe to say that meeting her at
that place and ultimately convincing her to marry me is still something baffles
me to this day. However, it truly shouldn’t. It was clearly God’s plan for both
of us to be in a semi-spiral and then find one another. Together, we would then
straighten out our tracks and create a path toward Him.
As mentioned, I was the king
of portraying that I had it put together. I did not share my struggles—I did
not admit to myself that I even had struggles. I was always there for everyone
else and carried an unnecessary sense of pride, as if I was above it. That
façade has faded in recent years, but not completely. Do not get me wrong, I
have it pretty good. I have a beautiful wife, wonderful children, an amazing
Church, and the world’s best family. With that being said, there have been more
than a handful of days that neither my bride nor I thought we’d see tomorrow…let
alone years down the road. Yet God has picked up our broken mess, dusted us off,
and carried us through.
So, here is a blog for those
who want to “get real” about marriage. This isn’t foo-foo marriage, everything
is perfect and let’s have 5 more kids marriage. This is messy-marriage,
hard-work marriage, and how do I give my kids back marriage. ;) But it’s
MARRIAGE, and it’s fo’ life.
** As a disclaimer most of
the advice or principles we share are blatantly stolen from those much wiser
and smarter than us. They are tidbits we have picked up from our parents,
friends, family or at church.**
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