One night a young husband came home for supper. His new wife put on the
table a new casserole that
she had read in a recipe book. The young
man began to
eat heartily at first but
the taste and smell finally overcame him and he slowed to a snail's pace in his
eating. His wife excitedly asked him
what he thought of her newest attempt at cooking. "Honey, he replied, I have never tasted
anything like it." She
then asked what he wanted
for dessert. He replied, "just some
tums." Now can
you guess her response?
Charlie Shedd, who wrote the book, "Letters to
Karen." tells a story of how
he and his wife prepared
their daughter for marriage at a young age.
They would
every night pray that God
would prepare the young man who their daughter was
going to marry. In the prayer they said, "Lord help this
young man to know and
our daughter to know that it
will take a lifetime to get to know each other.
The Bible teaches that marriage was instituted by God
when He gave Eve to Adam and the scripture says the two became one flesh. God has different addition than man. Man says the one and one is two. God says the two become one.
In the movie, "Sleepless in
has lost his first wife to
cancer and has lost his belief in finding true love. Finally
after a certain amount of
time he decided to get back into the dating game. In one scene Tom Hanks who plays a character
called Sam Baldwin turns to the his son
whose name is Jonah and
says, "It talks a long time even a lifetime to get to know
someone."
Marriage is a lifetime commitment. This phrase highlights three important
keys to marital
success. First, respect for the
uniqueness of the other person.
Each person is different and
we have to respect each others uniqueness.
Every
body has a different
personality. In fact each one of us has
a different thumb print
and DNA structure. So respect the fact that your spouse is
different than you.
Secondly, hunger for relational depth. Do not be satisfied with a surface
relationships. Get to know this person that you are married
to. Remember why you
fell in love with them. Remember they had qualities that you saw when
you first
got to know them. Explore deeper qualities. Don't be satisfied with small talk.
Only through strong,
persistent and quality communication will you get to know
your spouse. Don't let anything take away from quality
with your spouse and
family. Turn off the T.V., cell phone, palm pilot, or
any other device getting in the
way of your
relationship. Love deeply and love
fully.
Thirdly, remember that marriage is a long term
commitment. Determine to
not allow yourself a back
door. The only time one should back out
of a relationship
is for adultery or abuse and
that should only be until the offender gets proper
counseling, therapy and has
proven that they earned the right to re-enter the relationship. Marriages that last long term or those who
have made a determination
to stay in it for the long
run.
Paul Lewis writes, "These pearls can be cultivated
in the relationship of
man or woman willing to
nurture them." We have choices to
make every day in
our marriages I hope we will
choose to take these suggestions and apply them for
they are secrets to a long
and lasting marriage.
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