Last week my parents celebrated their 47th wedding anniversary. I joke a lot about if they have been married 50 years yet, to which my mom always responds “you’re lucky we got married at all.” To most, that would sound like a more modern establishment of co-habituating rather than committing to marriage. In reality, my parents are a product of the 60s and were more likely to reject the entire institution of marriage.
In Genesis 2:22-24, we see that God created woman from man and intended them to be united together forever once committed to marriage. There was a specific intent from God about how our marital relationship should be constructed. In today’s society, it more difficult to find God’s intent on display in American marriages.
I believe that we need guidance strictly from the Word of God on how marriage should be. However, I also believe Godly counsel from others is often needed. In relation to marriage, it’s helpful to find Christians who have long-standing marriages in order to see and hear what has worked for them. It’s helpful to be reassured in good times and assisted in turmoil. Those Christian examples, with a healthy prayer life and studying God’s word, help us figure out how God wants us to behave within our own marriages.
I’m a lucky girl that I was able to see that modeled behavior first hand in my parent’s marriage. They were kind to one another. They always supported each other’s endeavors. They dreamed together. They stood united against any force. When things were bad, they worked through it together. When things were good, they rejoiced together.
Despite them having been a part of the hippie generation that typically rejected the institution of marriage, they are still so in love. So much so, that they have a tree in their backyard that has their initials carved inside a heart.
~Emily
And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman because she was taken out of Man. Therefore, shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife; and they shall be one flesh. ~Genesis 2: 22-24
Iron Porch 
A very needed topic today Emily! We have celebrated 46 years of marriage so far; I have to give all credit to God! Just as aging isn’t for sissies, neither is marriage! There were times, in spite of our love, when only my commitment to God kept me married. I just bet my husband could say the same thing. Today we are both grateful for God’s guidance, without which we would not know the joy of survival! Never forget it is not love which makes commitment stronger, but commitment which makes love grow stronger! Trisha
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