My mom told my grandma that I up and left the country at the drop of a hat for last weeks mission trip and my grandma asked, “how does Drew feel about Jenna leaving all of the time?” I kind of laughed a little because if you would have asked me this four years ago, the answer would have looked incredibly different. Let me set the stage: Drew and I met when I was 18 years old, those were the days where I only wore Abercrombie and Fitch and totally rocked looks that didn’t really fit in tiny Stevens Point, Wisconsin. Drew thought I was a California girl and lord, I wish I could go back and redress myself. Looking back at the two of us, we were young, didn’t know what we wanted in life, and it took us three whole years to figure out that we even wanted one another. We took every class together, studied together, hung out all of the time, and went through our 20’s side by side. At the ripe age of 23, I got married to this man and when we went through our premarital counseling, we answered the exact same on the Meyers Briggs scale. (I’m talking exact same, whoa.)

Fast forward the four years later, I own a business, Drew sells wine, we live in a village we had never even heard of, and while we grow closer together everyday, we grew into the people we are. The  #1 thing I love about being married, is the fact that I married a man who grew into himself while growing into our marriage. Our lives look a lot different than we ever imagined. When we wed, I told him I wanted to work my way up the corporate ladder, that I wanted to have kids and have a stay at home husband, and that I wanted to live in an old refinished country home. Well, I quit that corporate job six months after we got married, started a business that I was entirely self taught in, held off on the kid thing and decided I wanted to travel the world while working. We bought a new home on a culdesac and made a new life for ourselves. God proved that his plans have always been better than our own but we’ve been through a lot together that has led us to where we are today, slow dancing in the middle of the road while walking the dogs and holding hands when we fall asleep.  The truth is, behind every successful business owner is a humble cheerleader who picks up the slack and holds down the fort when the business takes over.

Drew and I used to be attached at the hip. We had the same friends, same interests, and did absolutely everything together. Seldom would we go out on our own of have girls nights or boys nights but as we have grown up and grown into one other, we have also grown into different people who are still madly in love with each other. We have our own hobbies, our own friends, our own dreams, but together we get to live these days that make us feel alive. There is something absolutely liberating, exciting, and relieving being married to a resilient man, a man who hasn’t stopped growing, who keeps chasing the things he loves, and who loves his golf game, wings with the boys, and beer on the weekends. If I could offer absolutely any piece of advice, it is this: marry your best friend, that person you want to wake up with, the one who accepts you just as you are. Marry someone confident enough to let you spread your wings but humble enough to be your stronghold when you need it. Be with the person that is driven, a hard worker, a dreamer, and dream together (even if they are separate dreams.) Imagine being 80 and skydiving (or drinking coffee on the front porch while bird watching) and think of what wrinkly face you hope will be next to you. Be with someone who encourages you to chase your dreams, who loves to see your soul shine, and who will always say “I got it, babe” when you tell them you are leaving for a missions trip in one week flat. What a beautiful thing to keep growing on my own along side of a man who keeps getting better and better each day.

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