Today I have been married to my beautiful wife for 11 years. It amazes me to think that 11 years ago on this day, we made a lifelong commitment to one another and to God. What also amazes me is that we have know each other more than half our lives, we met over 19 years ago, and she still decided to marry me! 
The Best Life
Over there years we have experienced many things. We have experienced highs and lows, we have experienced fun times, and not so fun times. We have accomplished some goals, yet have still many more to accomplish. Through it all, I would not trade married life for any other life. I truly believe Married Life is the Best Life. Below are 11 Reasons why I believe so.
Married Life makes you a better person. Before married life, it was “me, me, ME!” My primary concern was what would benefit me. A selfish life doesn’t work in a married life. I have grown, and still am growing, from selfish to selfless.
Always have someone to share your greatest experiences with. Have a great day at work, when you come home you have someone to share it with. Have some difficulties, you have someone to listen and provide perspective on it.
Real long life. Married people live longer. Studies show that married men live longer than single men, and are less likely to die of infectious disease or heart disease. As you age you have someone to help you with the things you could no longer do.
Root of a family. Marriage is the root, or foundation that you can build a family on. So many studies show the negative effect of children raised without a father, or in single parent homes. I am not saying that single parents cannot raise good and successful children, but being married increase the chances of doing so.
Intimacy. Let’s be real. Sometimes men and women have a different opinion of what defines intimacy. However, when both realize what translates into intimacy for the other, and seeks to provide the intimacy desired, there will be happy times spent together. 
Earnings increase. Studies show that married men and women are a boost to your earnings. Some estimates show that married men make 40% more than comparable single men.
Double the pleasure. When you marry your spouse, you marry his/her family as well. In-laws can be a point of contention for some married couples, but I don’t believe it was designed that way. When you love your spouse, you love who he/she loves. It is not always easy, but love conquers all. Now you have double the people to love and support you, and so does your spouse.
Love. The bible says there the greatest of these is love. God created us to love one another, and there is no greater expression of love than a husband and a wife.
Interest. It is wonderful when you have shared interest with someone. When you have shared goals, and you strive together to reach them. When you create and strive for goals individually you experience great growth, when you do them as a couple you experience exponential growth.
Friendship. Being truly friends is a wonderful thing about marriage. When you reach BFF status in your marriage you have reached a great place. Just like every every friendship you don’t always agree, but your friendship becomes more important than any of the differences you have.
Experiences and memories you create together. The day we got married is one of the best of days of my life. We have had many other great experiences including the birth of our 3 children. We’ve laughed uncontrollably and cried uncontrollably, and all have been placed in our memory banks to discuss and relive later.
It Gets Better
As you can see the last 11 years have been wonderful. Not without challenges, but I could not imagine spending them with anyone else, except Stephana Bledsoe! I look forward to the next 11, the next 11, the next 11, the next 11 and so on, and believe each year will be better and better as we grow.
Question: Did I miss anything? What would you add to the list? Please share in the comment section below.
SPACE
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Awesome advice, as I’m looking forward to marrying my best friend next year, I’ve shared this post with him as well. I LOVE THE ENCOURAGEMENT… so many people who aren’t blessed to find their true love has distorted ideas of what marriage is really about. Thanks for sharing your personal thoughts.
Thanks, Teek! I’m rooting for an amazing and lifetime marriage for you both!
IM 23 YEARS OLD MY HUSBAND IS 25 WE HAVE BEEN MARRIED FOR ABOUT A YEAR AND A HALF. I AGREE WITH YOU JACKIE MARRIAGE IS MUCH BETTER THAN BEING SINGLE I WAS TREATED REALLY BAD IN MY PREVIOUS RELATIONSHIP. I KNOW IM ONLY 23 HOW EVER THERE IS NO AGE LIMIT ON BAD RELATIONSHIPS. THE MAN I MARRIED IS AWESOME HE LOVES GOD FIRST AND GOD IS OUR FOUNDATION HE HONORS AND RESPECTS ME HES CAREFUL WITH MY HEART. HE WORKS HARD EVERY DAY HE IS A LOVER AND PROVIDER WE LOVE SPENDING EVERY FREE MOMENT TOGETHER. HE IS A WONDERFUL YOUNG MAN. THE WORLD TRYS TO KILL THE IMAGE OF A MAN WITH STANDARDS HOWEVER THEY ARE STILL OUT THERE. HE KNOWS THAT HE HAS FOUND HIS GOOD THING AND I HAVE FOUND MINE. WE CANT WAIT TO START OUR FAMILY AND SPEND OUR YEARS GROWING OLD TOGETHER. MAY DEATH BE THE ONLY THING TO DO US PART.
That is awesome!! Thanks for sharing, Dee!!
I’ll take the single life over marriage any day. I’ve never known even one man who was truly faithful to his wife/girlfriend. I’ve been betrayed enough times that I know it’s in a man’s nature to cheat and I’ll be damned if I’m going to pick up his dirty socks off the floor and clean his dirty dishes every day while he’s out betraying my trust. I’m happy when I’m single and I’m never going to allow any guy into my life again. All you marriage lovers can have it. And uh…..if you’re expecting long-term faithfulness….rotsaruck with that one !
when i WAS married, i gave up drinking alcohol and smoking. i shopped for groceries, cooked and plated food, did dishes (not in a dishwasher),cleaned entire house, washed, dried, folded, ironed, swept, mopped, changed diapers, got up fed baby every night helped with homework, and worked fulltime blue collar job while all wifey ever had to do was come home after her cushy job and kick off her shoes and watch tv and wait for me to run her a nice hot bath. guess what? i never cheated or ever even thought about cheating! laura, i feel for you and your particular experience, but all guys don’t cheat or a lazy
Thanks for sharing, Mike. And wow!! I could learn something from you, as I don’t do nearly all the things you mentioned. I can definitely do much better in many of those areas.
Thanks for commenting Laura. I’m sorry you’ve been hurt in past relationships. I’m glad you are happy being single. Not everyone’s experiences are the same. I, for one, love being married and wouldn’t change it for the world.
Jackie, I thank you for a wonderful article. You must be a special person, as I am sure your wife is too. I am thankful you found the right person to complete you, and I hope that both of you put God in the center of your lives. Pray together, worship together, and you will always stay together. I wish both of you a very Merry Christmas.
Thank you, Ron! Good advice and I really appreciate it.
I went thru the same thing as Laura… I was married to the kids dad for 19 years to have him end up with my BFF. I moved on to marry another man who slept with my employees. I have since moved on different state, and started over, I have met my Teddy Bear-he is the best thing in the world…I am just glad I didn’t give up there is nothing that says you dont have 2 soul mates in life…….Can’t wait to get married again.
Thanks for sharing, Mary. I’m rooting for you and your “Teddy Bear.”
Laura, I am so sorry that you have been involved with the kind of men that did those things to you, but please do not put all men into that category. My ex wife had an affair with her sister’s husband, it put our daughter into such a turmoil that I had to put her in the phsycological unit of a hospital for 60 days, but I know that not all women are like that. I pray that god will touch your heart at some point, and you will find the man that can give you type of love that is spoken of in the 11 things that Jackie wrote about. I don’t have the things he discussed either, and some of them I never will at my age, but I still search for the woman that can be there for me, and me for her, and I believe that I will find her, so that we can share as many of these 11 things as possible. Just let go of the hurt, open your heart, and see what God can do for you. Merry Christmas to you.
Well said, Ron. Thanks for contributing your story and comments.
Ron…..I, too, thought he was a bad apple the first time betrayal happened to me some 30 years ago but it’s happened in every relationship I ever had and not to mention the fact that both of my brothers-in-law were unfaithful to my sisters and not to mention 4 of my closest friends’ husbands also betrayed them. I could spend an hour telling you about what happened to my married female coworkers. And let me add that my father cheated on my mother throughout their whole marriage.
Don’t think I dated creepy men. They were always men who people considered a “great catch”. Although women sometimes do betray, in general, we’re more faithful than men. As a psychologist put it recently….(paraphrased)….”Women don’t understand the pressures men are under every day NOT to cheat on their wives/girlfriends. Sexual pressures on men can overwhelm us.”
It’s a statistical fact that approx. 75% of men cheated on their wives/girlfriends and those are the ones who admitted to it in a large survey study done years back. Ron, you have less to fear for your future.because women are less apt to cheat. Women, on the other hand make a grand mistake by trusting in any man. Sorry if that insults you. I certainly don’t mean it to. Thanks for your comment….
Laura, I appreciate you sharing your story as well, and I can understand why you have the attitude that you have, considering what you have experienced. Married life is not for everybody, and it takes a lot of work on the part of everyone involved, from husband and wife to the in laws, and if blended children are involved, that brings on its own set of challenges. However, I truly do believe that God did not intend for man or woman to live alone. We are the only ones who can keep the earth populated for the future, and we know that God’s plan was for us to be joined to each other by marriage before we do the work of populating the earth. My prayer for you will just be for you to soften your heart to the possibility that you have just not met the one true love that is out there for you. Maybe you will never actively search for that person, but just allow yourself to be receptive to what God has planned for you. It may be that there is a man that has gone through a terrible experience also, and you and he could just be perfect for each other. Only God knows for sure. I wish for you a happy productive life in service to God, whatever path you choose to walk down. Please know that I am not speaking to you as an authority on marriage, but as a Christian and a sinner who is just rying to make it here until God calls me home. I have been hurt quite a lot in life myself, but I still look forward to the day That god puts a Godly Christian woman in my path. If that does happen, I truly believe that it will because he wants us to be together. The things Jackie detailed in his article truly are what makes a marriage, and often it does not work out, but for me, the possibility that it will, is worth the risk, because I do not like living life as a single person. If you are ever blessed to meet that Godly man, he will become your best friend. A quote that I have been sharing for years goes like this: “True friendship is sorrow divided, and happiness multiplied” There is no better feeling in the world than knowing that there is someone you can trust your deepest sorrow to, or share a happy joyous occasion with, knowing that your best friend will cry with you, or be excited for you. good night, Laura, rest well.
Congratulations on 11 years of marriage! Marriage is a lot of hard work but the benefits that you shared so outweigh the negatives. And its great to have a male role model out there talking marriage being a blessing.
Thanks Shawn! The upside is far greater than any downside that cones with marriage…marriage is a blessing!