We had our fifty-fifth wedding anniversary on March 19th! On that date in 1955 we committed ourselves to each other in the context of a covenant not a contract which could be broken. We did not ‘try’ marriage to see if it would work . We recognized that marriage does not work but that it takes work. Marriage can work because it is a God-given institution for which God has provided all the needed resources. His Grace is sufficient for any challenges or pressures that intrude.
We married ‘till death do us part”. We did not consider any options which would allow us to escape the relationship. We made no prenuptial agreements. We committed ourselves to learn the skills necessary to make it work. We determined to work together on the intruding problem rarher let the problem work on us. We have not considered challenges as excuses for terminating the relationship but challenges to resolve.
We entered and maintain our marriage by finding our personal fulfillment in our relationship with Christ. Having found fulfillment we can then meet the needs of our mate when he/she ceases to meet our needs. Whenever we wander and seek fulfillment through people, ministry, work,or pleasure we know that the problem is in our deficient relationship with Christ not deficiency in our mate. This empowers us to strengthen our love even though the mate may lose the physical attraction, compatibility and fulfillment of any nature.
Those who have many mates instead of many years in a marriage are deprived of knowing the kind of intimate relationship which only an enduring committed marriage provides. We highly recommend a Biblical God-given and God-made enduring marriage.