Next week my husband and I will celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary..more on that later...but the subject of marriage is really 'up' for me right now. I feel more committed to my husband than ever before even as I mourn with friends who are struggling in their own relationships. A union of two imperfect people--trying to navigate the twists and turns of life is going to be challenging. How could it not be? And yet, there was a point in time where wide eyed lovebirds pledged their commitment 'come what may.'
Our Sunday School class has been using Gary Thomas' Sacred Marriage study for the last several weeks. I have really gained some great insights from his talks. This led me to follow him on twitter which led to this great sermon he delivered recently at Second Baptist Houston.
About midway through the sermon he uses an illustration that will stay with me. Gary asked the listeners to consider what it would be like if every American were given a car by the government when they turned 16. The only caveat is that this car would have to last them their whole life--it's the only one they would ever get. Gary proposed that we would all treat those cars very differently than we do now. Think of the care, the maintenance, what we would be willing to invest if we knew that it had to last. Gary then challenged us to think of our marriages the same way. It's not a several year lease agreement--where we can trade in, trade up or trade models when we were bored. It is a covenant. I just loved that imagery!
And then yesterday someone sent this article my way..It is from a secular publication and is not even told from a Christian world view, but wow what a testimony!
As the world seems to have more and more to say about the changing expectations of marriage, I hope some of this will be meaningful to you.
2 comments:
What a great way to look at marriage -- and how sacred it really is. We don't get to trade it in for a better model so we better take care of it. Thanks for sharing!
I LOVE Gary Thomas, and have read Sacred Marriage and Sacred Parenting several times each -- because I always seem to need reminders to change my perspective on those relationships! I'm excited to listen to this sermon the next time I have a little quiet time to myself.
Also, I posted the link to the other article on my Facebook page, and found out that one of my high school classmates, unbeknownst to me, is in the middle of exactly the same situation in her marriage. She told me that the article gave her hope and actually made her feel better about things. Thank you so much for touching her life simply by linking to that article here. The internet might be a wild and dangerous place sometimes, but God can certainly use it for His purposes!
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