Marriage is downright tough.
You bring two individuals carrying heavy baggage, growing up in
different homes, exposed to varied examples the way marriage works and then expect
every day to function just like the honeymoon.
Oh, and to top matters off, each of you lived umpteen years only
worrying about self and satisfying your own desires. Once crossing the threshold, the couple now
bound together by vows, are expected to selflessly think of one another’s
needs, run a home together, face the world together and remain “happy”. We haven’t even got to the point of adding
another innocent little human being in the matter.
Let’s look at Abram and Sarai (later Abraham and
Sarah). Right off the bat, they faced a
hardship; Sarai could not bear children.
How could Abram prosper without continuing the generations with his
name? Well, years passed and they dealt
with this hardship. Then, at age
seventy-five (you are never too old to be called by God); God asked a mighty
task from Abram. “The Lord had
said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to
the land I will show you.” Genesis
12:1
Leave everything and go!
There was no written dialogue or communication of such a decision to
Sarai. He simply gathered his household
up and left. Walking into the unknown,
Sarai followed and stood by Abram’s side.
Along the way, various hardships arose.
Some were handled well, others not so well. Through it all God was with them. Take some time to read their story and
example in the Bible. . .
Today, I want to take you through a few lessons I learned in
marriage thus far. My husband and I hold
a history of hardships both together and apart.
When marriage began, that baggage (which barely fit through the door)
came too. Then, hardships began from the
get go and one after another came into play.
We just continued loading down our baggage and separately pushed through
the hardships. Until, we found that the
marriage was missing Someone. This
Someone took all the baggage and began to unpack it, one by one, laying it down
at the Cross. He opened our eyes to the
hurt we caused one another while trying to do life together separately (living
in the same home, facing the same hardships; yet, relying on self to get
through).
Well, come to find out a synonym for marriage is team (kind
of made that up, but let’s go with it).
Saying “I do” is more than ceremonial.
“I do” consists of living together, facing this life together, supporting
one another, encouraging one another and above all inviting God to be a part of
each day.
In order for a team to function at its best, meetings to
evaluate progress or failure need take place:
Budget meetings – open conversation about the money flow in
and the money flow out. This allows no
hidden secrets of finances and a collaborative care of the blessings received
from God. Anything hidden can be used by
the enemy for destruction. I urge you to
avoid hiding purchases or money in separate accounts to meet your
desires/wants. Budget is difficult; do
not do it alone.
Dinner meetings – DATE NIGHT! Get your fancy clothes out, clean up and feel
like you did on the first date with your spouse. Conversation need be valuable and speak nothing
of children or the daily grind. Fall in
love all over again, getting to know the desires and needs of each other’s
heart. Take the learned desires/needs
and work to meet those for your spouse daily.
Speak their ‘love language’ not yours.
Do this OFTEN! No electronics
allowed (unless cuddling together to watch a movie).
Intimate meetings – intimacy creates a connection and
indescribable bond meant only for your spouse.
This should not be used as a weapon or manipulation to get your
way. Keep this piece of the relationship
healthy. Talk about it; you may even
have to schedule it due to demands of parenting and crazy work schedules. That is okay.
Above all else. . .Prayer meetings – it is quite difficult
to stay mad at someone who prays for and with you. Placing God at the center of your
relationships will assure all other things to fall into place. And believe me; we need prayer in our
marriage to make it through the storms of this life! “For where two or three gather in my name,
there am I with them.” Matthew 18:20
Keep praying harder than the devil can work. AND laugh, have fun, enjoy marriage. Sheree Craig
No comments:
Post a Comment