The Journey

I've been reading a lot out of Song of Songs lately, and I've been talking to my friends a lot lately about marriage and all of it has really just gotten me stoked!
Now, I understand that there is a chance that God's plan for my life does not include a husband. And although that's not necessarily what I want for myself, the root of my desires is to be in the center of God's will- whatever that may be. And if God wants me to be single for my entire life, then I have complete faith that He will take my current desires for a husband and mold them to fit His plan.
But as of now, I am looking forward to my future as a wife. I would be lying if I didn't say that I'm excited that it's a possibility for me. And I want to dedicate the rest of this post to what I'm looking for and why. This isn't a call out to any man, this is just what my heart feels and I love to write, so here we go.
The most important thing to me is that my husband loves the Lord. Now, I'm talking about true and deep love. Not the "I go to church every Sunday and I'm saved" relationship. I want my marriage to be so filled with Christ that we can't even explain it. I want Him to be the center of it all. And I want a marriage that seeks first His Kingdom. I need my husband to understand that nothing in the world comes before my Savior. I want a marriage that encourages me in my walk. I want a husband that leads me and draws me closer to God. I want us to be a husband and wife that pray together and pray for each other. I want to be able to argue with my husband and disagree with him. I want us to be able to get mad and one another be honest about how we're feeling. I don't want us to hide from each other. If I'm doing something that I shouldn't, or not doing something that I should, I want my husband to be able to talk to me about it and vice versa. I want our love to be a direct reflection of Christ's love for the church.
I want to know at all times, no matter what we are facing, that my husband loves me.
I want my husband to know at all times, no matter what we are facing, that I love him.
On a less deep note, I want to be able to laugh with him. A deep laugh- a laugh that only we can share. I want us to be able to laugh at ourselves and the silly things we do.
I want to be able to do crazy and wacky things without worrying what he thinks.
And I want my marriage to be an example to other couples. I want to be the old couple that has made it sixty years and love each other more than they ever thought was possible.
I want to be able to look back and see how God held us together throughout all that life threw us: all the pain and heartache and misery and confusion and stress- but also all the love and happiness and joy and togetherness we experienced.
I want us to find each other beautiful, in such a more deep way than just physical beauty. I wan my husband to be attracted to my soul, and I want to love my husband's heart first and foremost. The rest is just a bonus.
I want to marry my best friend. I don't want to just randomly meet him and start a relationship. I want our relationship to start as friends and get to the point where we realize there's no one else that we like spending time with. And therefore, I'll be marrying my best friend.  That's what I'm talking about!