Tag: Marriage

The Little Things She Remembers: Gratitude Sunday and 27 Years of Small Holy Moments

~ David Willis ~ Leave a comment

Day 32 of the 7-40 Challenge
Sunday, February 1, 2026
Gratitude Sunday – The Thank You Campaign

I’m taking every Sunday this year as an opportunity to express gratitude for a person, situation, or memory that has influenced me in a positive way. Today’s subject: my beautiful bride.

The Memory I Forgot

We were driving to lunch today, enjoying each other’s conversation like we always do. We’ve been married for 27 years now, and it hit me: because we’re both 47 years old, we’ve got more memories with each other than we have without.

Over a quarter century of friendship. Laughter. Love. Memories. Shared sorrows. A life we’ve gotten to build together.

As we talked, we were sharing disdain for the amount of snow still left in our area. That snowstorm last week was something else, making it very hard for both of us to do things we enjoy. She loves being outside, taking care of her garden. I love walking and exercising in nature.

And then she brought up a memory that she remembered and I did not.

Apparently, a little over a year after we got married—late 1999 or early 2000—there was another snowstorm. And I was eager to make snow ice cream.

It was the first time we’d been together when it snowed. In Oklahoma, snow is not the rule—it’s very much the exception.

She remembers me going out onto our balcony with a blue Tupperware bowl (probably knockoff Tupperware we got for our wedding) and filling it with snow. I made a little over a gallon of snow ice cream.

I told her it always reminded me of my childhood—something my mom and I did together during the rare times it snowed. It has a very familiar, very nostalgic place in my heart.

But here’s what got me: She had a memory of me making it for her for the first time.

When She Remembered and I Did Not

When she brought this up, it hit me hard.

The times we share with people can be meaningful to them without us even noticing. Which means we need to share those times and be as intentional as we can be with the people we love.

It didn’t surprise me that she remembered it—that’s what she does. But what surprised me was that such a simple little recipe with snow left a smile from that long ago.

I thought: I’m grateful that there are little moments in our lives that become meaningful just because we share them with somebody we love.

Something that was meaningful to me as a kid has now become much more meaningful to me as an adult because it made my bride smile.

Becoming One

There’s a principle in the Bible that says a man should leave his father and mother and become one with his wife. While the Bible is obviously talking about knowing her intimately and physically, I think we also need to acknowledge that becoming one with your spouse is also about bond, partnership, and shared experience.

It is a holy and awesome union that I think most people today don’t really understand.

We live in a world where people are encouraged to figure out life for themselves, their careers, their bucket list, their desires first—before they ever take the time to settle down and get married. Everything else before settling. A position I wholeheartedly disagree with.

What I found is by making that most important decision in my life early, I now had someone to share those amazing times and those struggles with. I have a beautiful champion in my corner who lifts me up and walks with me, who experiences blissful highs with me and holds me through the lows.

People do not understand what becoming one in purpose, mission, and in our lives really does.

We Didn’t Know Then What We Know Now

Back in those younger days, as we were building our young marriage, building memories, building our relationship, enjoying our friendship, we didn’t know.

We didn’t know we would go through hardship and trials. That we would struggle from time to time and overcome. That our wedding vows would be lived out year over year as they have been. Sometimes through some very scary moments.

I didn’t realize that small memories would become so sweet and full of so much meaning and texture.

I didn’t realize that those shared experiences would bind us together even more tightly, deepening the love we have for each other.

All of it comes together. And all I can do is stand in awe of the relationship I have with this beautiful woman, with a thankful heart to God for the day He brought her into my life and for every day He allows me to be her husband and her best friend.

What Gratitude Discipline Reveals

I think taking a chance weekly to be purposely grateful—not just in my marriage, but in my life in general—reminds me that I am ridiculously blessed.

I am so rich in so many ways that have nothing to do with money.

I am sitting on a gold mine of opportunity if I only tune my mind to it: an opportunity to love people, to take care of people, to serve people, to work through creative ideas, to share with people, to provide for my family, and to live a life that many people would not choose to live because they do it without gratitude or true thankfulness.

I have been blessed so richly in so many ways. How could I be anything but grateful?

It is my honor to share that gratitude tangibly with the world around me and help them, hopefully, be inspired to see the same thing. I can think of no more fitting place to start than with my marriage.

The Key to Building a Marriage

I think one of the keys to building a marriage—especially a marriage that lasts—is by cherishing and honoring not only the relationship but all those small holy moments that make it up.

Snow ice cream on a balcony in a knockoff Tupperware bowl.

A conversation on the way to lunch about too much snow.

Twenty-seven years of moments like these, stacking up into a life we’ve built together.

Sweetheart, I know you’re reading this.

I love you with every fiber of my being and more. I am grateful that you are my partner in this life and that you are my love.

For Everyone Reading This

Not everybody reading this is married. But you will have a friendship with someone special who has your back. You will have opportunities that have been given to you that you could be grateful for. You will have memories that can help spur you on to good things.

It’s all in our perspective.

Cherish the relationships you have. Honor the small holy moments that make them up.

Because someday, someone might remember a simple thing you did together—and that memory will make them smile 27 years later.

Day 32: Complete ✓

All seven habits executed. Gratitude Sunday honored.

Round 1 Progress: 32/40 days (80%)

Eight more days until Round 1 is complete.

See you tomorrow for Day 33.

Day 9: Twenty-Seven Years and Just Getting Started

~ David Willis ~ Leave a comment

Today is my 27th wedding anniversary.

Twenty-seven years ago, I married my best friend. And sitting at the table with her this morning, talking about all the unlikely things that had to align for us to even meet, I’m reminded why Day 9 of the 7-40 Challenge matters more than any other day so far.

This isn’t just about me. It never has been.

The Butterfly Effect (Or God’s Perfect Timing)

April 1, 1998. I walked into a church in Bethany, Oklahoma, volunteering with the college minister—for what, I don’t really remember. As we walked in together, a beautiful lady with blonde hair walked toward us.

The minister introduced us. She quickly said hello, then politely ignored me. Talked with the minister and was on her way. Little did I know I had just met my future wife.

It was like we were destined to meet. But here’s the thing: I was only at that church because of a singing scholarship that brought me to that university where the college minister was a student. My bride had only transferred to that university three months earlier because she wanted to be closer to home. I’d been at a different church where I was the youth leader until just a month before. Then a rappelling trip in late April. A whitewater rafting trip in June.

Every random piece had to fall into place exactly right.

Twenty-seven years later, we’re still here. Still talking. Still building a life together. I can’t even describe how grateful I am.

Here’s the truth: I’m 47 years old, staring down the reality that 27 more years won’t be enough time to know her, to be her friend, to do everything we still want to do together. It just isn’t long enough to love her completely.

But I’ll take every second I can get.

Why I’m Doing This Challenge

For years, I’ve worked on bettering myself in various ways—career, faith, creativity. But I’ve simultaneously neglected things that matter just as much. My physical health. My strength. My energy.

And here’s what crossed my mind this morning: I have to be here. Not just alive, but present, capable, and strong. I want as many more years as I can have. God willing, that’s a whole bunch.

We love being married. We love building our family. We love being creative together. We love working on homes together—improving things, building things, creating beauty out of work. That requires strength. Stamina. Being physically able to show up and contribute, not just watch from the sidelines because I didn’t take care of myself.

I need to be a helpmate to my wife—not a burden she has to accommodate because I let myself fall apart.

I need to be an example for my son. I want him to see his dad doing the hard thing at 47, not talking about it someday. I want him to watch me transform, so when life gets hard for him, he knows it’s possible to choose differently. To start now, not later.

I want to see my grandchildren. I want decades more with my best friend. I want to keep growing, keep achieving, keep building.

The best time to start taking care of myself? Not someday. Not when things settle down. Now.

Because 27 years from now, I want to be sitting at that same table with her, talking about all the things we built together in these next decades.

And that starts with Day 9.

Day 9 Scorecard: ✅ Bible study ✅ Exercise (Workout A) ✅ Reading ✅ Gratitude ✅ Water ✅ Calories ✅ Creative hour

Nine consecutive perfect days. For her. For my son. For the life we’re still building.

Happy anniversary, my darling. Here’s to 27 more—and I’m going to be strong enough to live every one of them well.

The best time to start is now. Not for yourself alone. For everyone counting on you to be here.

See you tomorrow for Day 10.

Day 15 of the 7-40 Challenge: Why Marriage is the Best Adventure I’ve Ever Had

~ David Willis ~ Leave a comment

Hello, friends. Welcome to day 15 of the 7-40 Challenge. I’m David, your host on this wild ride of self-improvement, reflection, and transformation. Here we are, deep into round two, and I’m still buzzing with that fire to push forward—one daily task, one honest challenge at a time. It’s pulling something real out of me, day by day, and I’m grateful you’re along for it.

Tonight, I want to get personal. For years, I’ve called myself a writer… and then, well, I just stopped writing. There were flashes—bursts of words on a page, ideas scribbled in the margins of life—followed by long stretches of silence. I’d pick up the pen (or keyboard, let’s be real), only to set it down again. Metaphorically speaking, of course. It’s not a lack of ideas that’s held me back; it’s the deeper hook I haven’t quite latched onto yet. What’s the mission behind these words? Am I just chronicling my own quiet reflections, day to day? That’s fine—consistency alone would be a win. Or am I reaching out, lighting a spark for others to be more, do more? That’s noble too. But the pull I feel strongest is toward the big questions—the ones that keep so many of us up at night, searching for answers in a world that feels louder and lonelier than ever.

Take marriage, for instance. It seems like such a dirty word these days, doesn’t it? Fewer folks are diving into the dating pool, postponing rings and vows indefinitely, or skipping the whole thing altogether. I get it—life’s expensive, independence is intoxicating, and the stats on divorce don’t exactly scream “happily ever after.” But as someone who’s been all in for 26 years (27 this coming January), I have to wonder: Why? Why does something that lifted me higher than I ever imagined feel so out of reach for so many?

I can’t solve the world’s riddles in one blog post, but I can share my story. Because if my words can blend a bit of hard-won reason with the raw testimony of my own joys and stumbles, maybe it’ll cut through the noise. So tonight, let’s talk marriage—not as some dusty ideal from a bygone era, but as the living, breathing bedrock of my life. I’ll leave you with three reasons why it’s been the most uplifting adventure I’ve ever stepped into. And yeah, I’ll weave in a couple of voices from history to remind us this isn’t a new song—it’s one that’s echoed through time.

1. She’s My Best Friend—And That’s the Vow That Stuck

We met on April 1st, 1998—April Fool’s Day, of all days—and tied the knot just nine months later. Whirlwind? Sure. But from the jump, I knew: this woman wasn’t just a partner; she was my friend. My best friend. We’ve walked hand-in-hand through every twist—joys that make you laugh till your sides ache, valleys that test your soul—and those vows we whispered? We’ve kept them, fiercely.

It’s the kind of companionship that turns ordinary days into something sacred. As the great American poet Ralph Waldo Emerson put it in his essay Friendship: “The only way to have a friend is to be one.” My wife isn’t just along for the ride; she’s the one who sees me clearest, flaws and all, and chooses me anyway. In a world quick to ghost and swipe left, isn’t that the real magic? A friendship forged in fire, lasting because we both show up, every day.

2. Marry Young? Absolutely—If You’re Ready to Build Together

I’ve heard the advice lately: Wait. Stack your career first. Chase those solo adventures, fill your passport with stamps, pad your savings before you even think about merging lives. And hey, if that’s your path, own it—no judgment here. But for me? Marrying young was the smartest leap I ever took. We said “I do” broke as a joke, Taco Bell dinners and all, and built our lives from scratch—together.

It wasn’t a hurdle; it was the launchpad. Everything I’ve chased—a career that lights me up, dreams I’ve dared to dream—it’s all bloomed from that shared foundation. No regrets, no “what ifs” about missed opportunities. Just fewer heartaches, less uncertainty, because we poured the work into us from the start. We grew our love and our life in tandem, turning scarcity into abundance.

This isn’t some modern hack, either. Flash back to 1890, when British essayist and poet Coventry Patmore reflected on love’s enduring power in The Angel in the House: “The wife is the heart of the home, beating time to the music of the world’s great heart.” Patmore was writing in a Victorian world worlds away from ours, yet he nailed it—marriage as rhythm, as partnership, as the beat that propels you forward. We didn’t wait for perfection; we built it, side by side. And friends, if you’re hesitating at the edge, hear this: It’s okay to start small. You can grow big together.

3. A Voice That’s Honest, Loving, and Always in Your Corner

Single life has its freedoms, no doubt—the fierce independence that shapes you, the space to chase your own north star. But marriage? To the right person? It unlocks something deeper: interdependence. A real, flesh-and-blood voice in your life who loves you enough to call you out, cheer you on, and hold the mirror when you need it most.

My wife doesn’t sugarcoat. If I’m veering off course, she’ll say it straight—no lies, no fluff. We talk it through, work it through, and emerge stronger. It’s not always easy; growth rarely is. But that honest feedback? It’s gold. It turns “me” into “us,” and suddenly, you’re more than you were—sharper, kinder, braver.

Of course, this isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach. If marriage doesn’t fit your blueprint right now—or ever—skip ahead, and let’s agree to disagree with grace. But if you’re reading this and feeling that quiet tug, that whisper of “maybe,” let me say it loud: It’s okay. Go ahead and marry the one who sees your soul. Build from that small, sacred place, and watch it expand. Having someone truly for you—honest and unwavering—early on? It’s the foundation that carries you through a lifetime.

I love being married to my wife. I love her. And if these words inspire even one person to chase that kind of love—to see it’s still out there, worth every drop of blood, sweat, and tears—then this post has done its quiet work.

We’ll see you tomorrow for day 16. Keep showing up, friends. You’ve got this—and so do they.