GPS to a Joyful Marriage

I hope you all had a blessed Easter weekend!  We spent it in Orlando where we had a bridal shower for my daughter, Megan, on Saturday.  What a joyous but hectic day that was for me!! I must tell you, hanging around all those young women in their 20s and 30s gave me a renewed hope for marriage in our society.  Most of them were not married.  Yes, some of them were living with their boyfriends, but they still had this appreciation and respect for the state of marriage. I listened to the excitement in their voices as they discussed Megan’s upcoming nuptials next month.  They giggled like schoolgirls talking about the plans.  I listened at the awe in their emotions when Megan told them that her dad was going to do the ceremony for them.  One of Megan’s friends said she had goose bumps on her arms.  They all looked forward to getting married someday. Just when I thought that there was not much hope left for the institution of marriage. ...

Not too long ago, when I was just a teenager, people that lived together without the blessing of marriage were frowned upon – unaccepted by society.   Not many couples did it.  Now, it has become the norm.   Today, 70 – 90 % of young people will live with someone of the opposite sex (in a relationship) before they marry.  It is understandable that the younger generation fears marriage when 50% (almost 60% in Florida) of them come from broken homes.  Even baby boomers, that have experienced divorce, are now moving in with their partners to live out of wedlock.  Many of them have no intentions of marrying.  There is also a trend among people over seventy, who have lost spouses to death, to forego marriage and “live in sin”.  They can’t afford to give up their departed spouses’ retirement and social security benefits to marry. At one time, it was believed that living together, first, would damage your chances for a successful m...

Marriage is hard – maybe the most difficult part of our lives we’ll ever have to deal with.  Although parenting, at times, may run a close second, we would never think of divorcing our children out of our lives.  We love them unconditionally, much like God loves us. So why don’t we go into marriage with the same attitude?  Our spouses should mean more to us than our own children – according to the Bible.  Matthew 19:4-6 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife and the two will become one flesh.  So they are no longer two, but one.  Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.” NOTHING should come between a husband and wife; man should not separate them.  God never mentions that about our relationships with our children.  We’re only given them for a season, and then they are expected to move on and become their own person – the person God created, not us.  Our spouse shoul...

I’m a little late getting this out today.  I actually slept in this morning - a sorely needed sleep. (Pun intended – my body is also crying out in pain.)  Rick and I spent the weekend in Panama City painting, cleaning and fixing our house that was destroyed by renters.  A couple of hired hands were supposed to help us, but they never showed up.  I’m somewhat disturbed with the human race after this weekend, as you may see reflected a bit in this article. THE STATE OF MARRIAGE My soul weeps when I look at the state of marriage in our society.  The devil has been very triumphant in destroying the values in our society by silently chipping away at the foundation of our success – the family. Divorce in a family devastates confidence, esteem, trust, and love – just a few of the consequences of the breakdown of the family.  This lower sense of worth leads children of divorce to drugs, alcohol, abuse, pregnancy and crime, to name a few.  My hear...

Philippians 4:6-7 – “Do not be anxious for anything but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” The greatest gift I have received from God, since turning my life over to Him, is peace.  I did not know peace before that.  Even after all these years of striving to live a godly life, I’m still amazed whenever I experience His “Peace that transcends all understanding” .  It doesn’t always seem logical and may not be understood.  I’ve even had well-meaning Christians question my peace in some circumstances where they thought I should have responded a different way. I believe that God’s peace benefits us most in our marriages.  Let’s face it – we don’t marry perfect people.  We are all human and come with flaws.  If we go into marriage expecting our spouse to make us happy, we will fail mi...

As I was growing up, I called my earthly father, “Dad.”  It seemed to me that only my friends who had a very special relationship with their father called them “Daddy.”  I never called mine “Daddy.”  I was not very close to him. The first time I realized this was when I watched the movie “The Little Mermaid” with my children.  At the end of the movie, the little mermaid says to her father, “I love you Daddy!”  I sobbed uncontrollably.  My father had passed away a few months earlier, and I realized I would never have a relationship with him where I would call him “Daddy.” A few years later, a friend of mine and I were discussing all the words in the Bible for God.  One of those is “Abba”.  Abba means “father” or, as she liked to say, “Daddy.”  When she talked about God being our Daddy who would hold us on his lap when we needed comforting, the tears, again, began to pour down my face.  God is my Daddy. Our earthly fathers are not pe...

Today, Christians around the world celebrate Good Friday.  If I didn’t know the outcome of the crucifixion of Jesus, I would hardly call it a celebration.  It is painful for me to think about what Jesus went through.  I could barely watch Mel Gibson’s, “The Passion”.  I sobbed through most of it.  I don’t think I fully realized everything Jesus experienced until I saw that movie. I think I’ll stick with “Jesus of Nazareth” this year. If you ever doubt God’s love for you, think about today.  He gave his only Son to die for our sins.  Wow.  He gave Jesus as a sacrifice, to be crucified in the most horrific manner.  I can’t even put my mind around that. If God loves us this deeply, to allow His only child to be crucified, how can we ever doubt that love?  We should know - without any hesitation - that He will always be there for us. We look at the outcome of Good Friday - Easter.  Jesus rises from the dead.  What an amazin...