Which relationship has taught you the most about yourself?

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I would say my relationship with my husband has taught me the most about myself, in terms of being free to actually be my authentic self.

Before I got fully comfortable with Kolton, I did not realize how much I was putting on a mask in front of everyone around me. Even around my family, it was always as though I had to meet their individual expectations or act how they wanted me to act all the time.

When it came to most of my friends, I feel like there was always something hindering my opening up completely. Either they did not share my religious beliefs or they were not into the same interests so I always felt like I was holding myself back from getting too excited or open about myself. I even had friends who would make snide comments about something I was interested in which just further pushed me into my shell.

When it comes to Kolton, he wanted to know about every part of my character and interests and things I did not like. As it turned out, we had way more in common than I thought and I felt myself relaxing. It was as though I had just relaxed after being tense this whole time.

Even on the spiritual side of things, at the beginning of our relationship, Kolton was not a Christian. In fact, it would get tense whenever I brought up Christ in any real capacity. Not going to lie, this definitely put a strain on our relationship for a while but I just kept praying and God kept giving me the patience to stay. Low and behold, he did accept Christ eventually and that further made me feel completely myself around him.

Now I do not just feel emotionally and physically close, but spiritually as well since we share those core morals and beliefs. Looking back to how far we have come as both individuals and as a couple, is crazy.