Marriage!
Marriage is a Bond.
A Covenant.
A Sacrament.
A Promise.
A Vow.
It is a Beautiful Gift from God.
We (Mark and Kristin Wilson) have been married, as of today, January 2, 2026, for 16 years.
No marriage is full of bliss every moment of every day. But there is more bliss than miss. So, in honor of the 16th anniversary of the day we stood before God, Friends and Family and exchanged vows here are 16 things that make our marriage wonderful and fulfilling for us personally.
1. We pray together practically every day and often attend daily Mass together.
The imagery of a cord of three strands conveys the profound truth about God’s role in marriage. In the union of two individuals, the formation of two strands symbolizes the coming together of two lives. However, it is the inclusion of God as the third strand that elevates the marital bond to a higher plane, imparting unbreakable strength to the relationship. –Dr. David K. Ewen –How A God-Centered Marriage Works | How A God-Centered Marriage Works –
2. When we were both in college (for that is where we met) we attended Intervarsity Christian Fellowship together, although Kristin was not as involved with it as much as I was. One night in our group gathering the man who ran it gave a talk in which he stated that the 3 most important words spouses can say to one another is not I Love You, but I Forgive You. Let’s face it, no human relationship goes without upsetting somebody at some point. So, we are quick to forgive one another. Forgiveness will sometimes result in a resolution to correct a problem and that will sometimes result in a compromise when necessary for the sake of the other person.
Do not let the sun go down on your anger.
-Ephesians 4:26
3. In any relationship the necessity of admonishing someone is inevitable. We are not hesitant to tell one another when something was done or said, that was not the best course of action or the best way to word something. We are nagging or condescending about or talk down to the other person as if they were a naughty child. We simply correct simply in a spirit of helpfulness.
4. We Laugh Together. If you can’t laugh together life will be a continuous series of tense moments that results in an uneasy living situation. If you can laugh together, you will always find a source of merriment in most of the moments, you live together. You’re also more likely to forgive one another. We have lots of inside jokes of knowing each other for over 30 years.
5. It’s beautiful to marry your best friend.
6. We are not uncomfortable being ourselves around one another. We don’t pretend or put on masks. We are authentically ourselves and accept each other as we are for better and for worse.
7. For Better or For Worse has been tried and tested especially with Kristin’s disabilities becoming greater as the years have progressed on. Trials and suffering have continued to test and pull us together as a couple journeying through life. It has caused us to suffer together and for one another. The opposite is true as well, as we have also shared in the joy of the accomplishments of one another.
8. Marriage is like being on a roller coaster. It goes up and down, and sometimes upside down. It goes through tunnels and down steep deep inclines through a waterfall and maybe a big dinosaur roaring in the background. But your life partner is sitting right next to you holding your hand. When Mark goes to donate blood, he usually wants Kristin there to hold his hand as he hates needles. It’s one thing after another.
9. We adopted a child together. She was 15 when adopted and is 27 now. We don’t talk to her much and she has really given us a wild coaster ride. We now have 2 grandchildren and one on the way. Were glad she came into our lives and wish she was in it more.
10. We like spending time together and really never get bored with one another. I call her on my lunch break from work and we play scrabble together on the phone. I call her on my way home from work. We don’t get sick of one another.
11. We let each other have their own space, interests and friends. We don’t have to be around each other all the time. Although we do share with each other our interests, space and friends. We have grown and adapted parts of each other’s interests and culture into our own, especially Irish culture.
12. We like to travel together to all kinds of places. We’ve been to Ireland twice, Amish Country, Florida, Washington D.C., Colorado, Vermont, N.H., The Berkshires.
13. If any one of us starts singing, the other one will most assuredly start singing along. Religious Songs. Oldies. 80’s. Billy Joel. And especially Irish Songs.
14. We both have let people into our lives who we have been able to help. We have done this by inviting them to live with us or by visiting them or by chatting on the phone.
15. We like to go to and watch certain shows together. I like when Kristin gets into something and laughs or cries or is generally in suspense of something we are watching. With Princess (our daughter) we watched several repeat viewing of The Sound of Music, Meet Me in St. Louis, Elf and Disney’s Tarzan.
16. We are both creative and have artistic talents of some medium or other. Including writing in which we wrote this together. It could be more elaborate and better polished and have more pictures. But it’s late. I’m working a lot and the main purpose in writing it was to fulfill that itch in writing a blog that honors important dates in my church, my country and in our personal lives.
I hope that this can inspire somebody to evaluate their own marriage and to pick out things that you like about it.
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