There is something magical about a military ball. It is a fairy tale neatly wrapped in patriotism and loyalty with large helpings of tradition and a big bowl of grog.

Fifteen years ago, when I first met my husband, my idea of the military was from World War II movies and Nicholas Sparks. Magical, intense, filled with young love and reunited pasts. When we were living our fairy tale of one child and number two on the way, before cancer and the thought of enlistment, the media had convinced me it left nothing but single parents and broken soldiers. Today the message has shifted even farther from the fairy tale life into dependepotamuses and ticking time bombs.

When I first discovered we were headed into the world of camo, acronyms, and years apart I was devestated. This lifestyle was not what I wanted. Yet. What I did want was my husband. I wanted his happiness. I wanted him to follow his dreams. I wanted to choose him and for him to choose me, over and over again. What I did want was my husband. I wanted his happiness. I wanted him to follow his dreams. Click To Tweet

Our meeting was destined. Every time I struggle with our relationship, every time I wonder if we choose well I remember how we met. I couldn’t find a job in the small town where I was going to school. It was my senior year and I arrived a week early just to job hunt with no success. In the back of my mind I kept feeling this prompting to go to Little Rock (30 min drive) and apply for a job at the Olive Garden. Just the Olive Garden. It was all rather specific but my car was without air conditioning and it was August in Arkansas. After a full week of feeling this urge I bribed a friend with air conditioning to take me in exchange for a free meal. I was hired on the spot and began the next day, the day I met my husband. Obviously there is more to the story. There’s the chase, the why I discarded him so easily, how he pursued and I ran… but all of that is for another day.

Now, 15 years later, we struggle we fight we make up and we choose each other over and over again. We’ve both changed. We aren’t the same. I’d like to think we are both better people today then we were 15 years ago. But I know change isn’t always good. Sometimes it’s downright irritating. But I love this man who I once tossed a day planner at and told him to pencil himself in. He’s permanently tattooed across my heart now.

Family Christian sent me the book I Choose You Today: 31 Choices to Make Love Lastby Deb DeArmond in exchange for an honest review.


I enjoyed this book. I enjoyed the honesty, the stories of different couples, the conversational tone, and the beauty of marriage fought for. Marriage isn’t easy. It brings to light the selfishness in each of us and the desire for more then what we have. It is a constant choice to stand by our commitments and to love one another.

In the beginning DeArmond suggests reading the day’s entry seperately, husband and wife, and then coming together to discuss it. It’s a very noble idea. I don’t know about your family but I’m the bookworm in ours. My husband has read one marriage book in the last few years and it was because he was mentioned by name several times throughout (kind of a tell all on our marriage that is due to be released this fall). Even if your spouse isn’t interested in reading the book the questions are great and easy to adapt into a conversation. Great conversation starters!

Each daily reading comes with a banner verse for memory, a small narrative of marriage, discussion questions and a prayer for the day. It is a lovely book filled with Biblical principles for marriage and daily application. It is a reminder that everyday is a choice and that the small decisions and steps we take add up.