marriage

While we were out this weekend we ran into some old friends. Since we had seen them last their family has been through awful heartache, death, divorce, hurt and sadness. They seemed in good spirits though, which seems almost impossible. Afterwards, John and I had a good conversation about marriage, divorce and how grateful we are that the Lord brought us on our journey like He did, God has blessed us beyond our expectations! We dated all through high school and another year after I graduated before we got married, we spend a lot of time with each other’s families, a lot of time talking about the future and what we desired individually and as a couple. It was not always easy hashing those things out, but we did and it was necessary. We then waited and are still waiting to have kids, which has given us more time to enjoy our relationship, each other and have some awesome experiences we otherwise wouldn’t have had.

I’m not saying everyone needs to start out like us, we are definitely not the ultimate example…all relationships are different and have a unique story. It’s not the length of the relationship, but rather the substance. I don’t think a lot of couples today take the effort to truly get to know one another, ask the hard questions…they go into it knowing that they can get out if it’s not good enough or doesn’t make them “happy”. And that makes it all the easier to give up and try again. The world has made marriage and love everything that it’s not and has thrown Biblical principles out the window.

God created marriage for a man and a woman (only!) and those vows taken last for a lifetime. Love and respect are necessary; the woman needs to be in submission, not domination, to the man; the man needs to be submissive unto the Lord; forgiveness, understanding, patience, kindness, etc, have to be present. We, as humans, are not perfect but through God’s grace we can have marriages that are glorifying to Him and bring us joy and happiness. We cannot do it in our own strength; we’re not meant too, we need to depend fully on Him to guide us through!

Again, I am so thankful for John and our marriage! He’s my best friend and I’m blessed to be his wife!