Dating is fun.

Being engaged is exciting.

Weddings are a great big party that celebrates love and commitment.

Marriage is tough.  Good…..but tough.  Worth it…..but not easy.

I’ve been married to the same man for over 40 years.  So I know how tough marriage is.  And he knows  how tough marriage  is.  In order to stay married, we have had to work through it all.  And stuff just keeps coming at us.

Every year, as I begin reading through the Bible again, I pause when I read Genesis 3:20, “Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living.”

Adam named his wife Eve after they had both lived in the Garden of Eden with God for who knows how long.  This was after they had eaten the apple and sinned.

Up to this point, they were both called Adam.  Together, they completed the person of Adam.

man+woman = one.

How much would our perspective of marriage change if we sincerely considered ourselves – man and wife – to be one person?  It wouldn’t be, “I’m done dealing with his problems.” or “I’m tired of her behavior – I’m out of here”.

It would be more like “my leg always likes to cramp up” or “my neck is stiff and its driving me crazy”.  When our leg cramps up, we rub it and stretch it.  When our neck is stiff, we massage it and warm it up.  When a physical part of us is having a problem, we work with the issue, figure out how to help it and get help if we need it.  There’s no other option.

VERY different than the ‘throw away’ attitude that many people in our culture have towards marriage today, isn’t it?

Sometimes married people joke about their ‘better half’.  How would our marriages be different if we acted like we believed that?

Please help us honor you with our marriages, Abba Father.