God's Successful Marriage

  Key Verse “It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” — 1 Corinthians 13:7 There is an interesting thing that happens somewhere in the middle years of marriage. You look across the room one day and realize that the person you married is still very much the person you married—and yet, in some ways, they are not. But in fact, neither are you. The face is familiar. The laugh is familiar. You can probably predict how they will order at a restaurant, which side of the bed they will sleep on, and exactly how they will react when someone loads the dishwasher incorrectly, but beneath all that familiarity, things are changing. Energy changes. Bodies change. Hormones change. Priorities change. Careers sometimes change. Children need us differently, or no longer need us in the same ways at all. Parents begin needing more of our attention. Things that once seemed important lose some of their shine, while things we barely noticed twenty years ago suddenly matter quit...

  Key Verse “Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” — Mark 10:9 Daniel and Karla, congratulations!  There is something deeply joyful about watching two people reach the point where they can look at one another and say, " I choose you. I want to build my life with you".  As your family, we are excited for you both. We are excited about the wedding, the plans, the celebration, and all the memories that will come with this season. But even more than that, we are excited about the life you are choosing to build together. Marriage Is A Wonderful Gift It is not perfect, and it is not always easy, but there is something incredibly meaningful about having one person who becomes your partner through all of it—the celebrations, the disappointments, the ordinary days, the unexpected turns, and the years you cannot yet imagine. So, enjoy this season - Take pictures. Laugh together. Dream together. Talk about the future. Enjoy being engaged. But somewhere betwee...

  Key Verse “Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.” — Galatians 6:2 There are changes in marriage that you see coming. Children grow up. Careers change. Retirement eventually appears on the horizon. You may not know exactly what those seasons will look like, but you know they are probably coming. Health changes can be different. Sometimes there is warning and sometimes there isn't. A diagnosis can arrive during an ordinary week and divide life into before and after . An accident can change what one spouse is physically able to do. Chronic illness, disability, emotional struggles, pain, fatigue, or simply the effects of getting older can begin changing routines that once seemed permanent. And when someone's health changes, the marriage changes with it. That does not necessarily mean the marriage becomes worse. But it does mean that something the couple had learned how to live may suddenly have to be learned again. Roles may shift, the spouse who al...

Key Verse “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” — Galatians 6:9 There are seasons in marriage when serving one another feels almost effortless. You notice something that needs to be done, you do it, and you move on. You make the coffee. You pick something up at the store. You take care of a chore because you know your spouse has had a long day. These little acts of love do not require much thought because there is still something left in the tank. Then there are other seasons. There are seasons when both of you are tired before the day even begins. Work is demanding. The children or grandchildren need attention. Someone is dealing with health problems. Money is tight. Sleep is short. There are appointments, responsibilities, aging parents, household repairs, and all the ordinary things that somehow seem to arrive at the same time. You still love each other. That is not the problem. You are simply tired. And tired people do not always...

  When the Person You Married Begins to Change Key Verse: "And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness." — Colossians 3:14 There is a picture many of us carry into marriage without ever realizing it. We stand across from the person we love, make our vows, and somewhere in the back of our minds we assume that the person standing there is the person we are going to spend the rest of our life loving. Of course, we know life will change. We know we may move, change jobs, raise children, lose loved ones, grow older, and eventually trade youthful energy for reading glasses and sore knees. But we do not always stop to consider something much more personal: The person we married is going to change too. And so are we. That sounds obvious when we say it out loud, but it can become surprisingly difficult inside a marriage. The young wife who once seemed carefree may become more cautious after raising children, carrying responsibilities, or walking throug...

  The Seasons of Marriage Key Verse: “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.”   — Ecclesiastes 3:1 When my bride and I exchanged our vows, we promised to love one another for the rest of our lives. What we could not have fully understood that day was how many different versions of life those vows would have to carry us through. We knew we would grow older together, but we did not yet know exactly how parenthood would change us. We did not know what responsibilities would eventually rest on our shoulders, what trials would test us, or which prayers would seem to go unanswered. We did not know how success, disappointment, illness, loss, exhaustion, and the passing years would shape the people we were becoming. We promised to love each other for a lifetime without yet knowing everything that lifetime would contain. That is one of the beautiful—and sometimes difficult—truths about marriage: marriage has seasons . Some seasons feel full o...