DID WE MARRY TOO YOUNG?

For the people who knew us at the time of our engagement, it was no surprise that we would be getting married or engaged in the near future. However, for those who didn't know us very well, it may have came as a shock and perhaps led to people thinking we were simply 'too young'. Even today (8 months into our marriage) I'm constantly being told I'm too young to be married. But for us, it made sense and still does.

You see we had already been living out of home for quite some time (in separate share houses) and had learnt how to live on our own perhaps earlier than many others do. We spent most of our time together and began budgeting together, shopping together, cooking together and making all our decisions together as a couple. We had actually originally planned on marrying this year in July, however I suggested the radical idea to Jacob that we move it forward. This was the best decision we could have made!

I guess it’s not uncommon for people our age or a little older to be living together without the commitment of marriage. Perhaps if we had simply moved in together rather than getting married, we’d have less shocked looks from strangers. But for us, we believe the best way to do it is to marry first. Maybe this way of life seems 'outdated' or 'unpopular' and I can understand why people are opposed to it. However, I believe God encourages us to do it this way because He knows it’s best for us. And that has to be enough for us to trust His word. God designed marriage, intimacy and relationships. He understands how they work and created marriage to be a blessing. So that‘s why we chose to wait until we were married to live together.

So, are there challenges in marrying young?

I would imagine for people who have being living with their family prior to marriage, moving out increases their expenses dramatically. Marrying young also means couples have less life experience and likely haven’t spent as much time together as adults. As Jacob and I had already being living out of home, getting married was actually going to save us money (after the wedding of course).

What are the benefits?

Although there are challenges, for us the benefits completely outweighed them! Getting married young allows us to have more married years together to travel, work and save before having kids. If we were to marry at say 25, (which is the age I'd like to start trying for a baby) we'd have hardly any married time with just the two of us. Of course not everyone meets their husband or wife at a young age but for us, we always knew we would get married.

Overall, I don't think we married too young. It's what we chose and we stand by our decision! Often people come from the mentality that the years prior to marriage and 'settling down' are the years you can have fun and do what you want. But for me, I can't imagine spending these years with anyone else. I'd rather travel the world and do what I love with my husband, not without him!

Photos captured by Agape Stories.