NO MARRIAGE IS ALL SUNSHINE

THE Blue Niles a rushing, churning river,
which gains its energy from the mountains
down which it descends. It carries
with it much of the rich and muddy
soil from the country through which
it passes to the Nile delta far away.

In the delta, the Blue Nile is joined
by the White Nile, a sleepy, peaceful river
and which flows across the plains.
As their names indicate,
the White Nile is a clear river in comparison to the Blue.

Once they join together
into the same riverbed,
these two river maintain their distinct qualities
and colors for many, many miles.
From high above, one can clearly see
the muddy currents of the Blue Nile,
and the clear waters of the White.

They are separate, yet united.
The longer the rivers share
the same riverbed, however,
the more their current intermingle,
until the two rivers truly become
one powerful and life-giving waterway.

When tough times hit a marriage
or disagreement erupt,
make a decision that you will pull together,
rather than allow yourself
to be pulled apart by temporally circumstances,
momentary conflicts, or resolvable differences.

Choose to flow together.
The longer you do,
the more “one” you will become. No marriage is all sunshine,
but two people can share one umbrella if they handle close.

BEST FRIENDS MAKE THE BEST SPOUSES.

Is your spouse your best friend?

How privilege you are if the answer is “Yes.”

Perhaps an even more important

question to ask is this: “Are you a good friend to your spouse?”

in being a good friend, you very often gain a best friend!

A true friend is someone

to whom you can empty your heart

a heart often made to feel “full”

by many different sources of passion, concern, or worry.

Francis Bacon once wrote:

“We known diseases of stopping and suffocation

are the most dangerous in the body;

and it is not much to otherwise in the mind:

you may take sarza to open the liver,

steel to open the spleen,

flower to sulphur for the lungs, castoreum for brain;

but no receipt openeth the heart

but a true friend, to whom you may impart grief,

joys, fears, hopes, suspicions,

counsels and whatsoever lieth upon

the heart to oppress it, in a kind of civil shrift or confusion.”

One of the best gifts

you can give your spouse and your children

is listening ears.

Be a friend to the four C’s:

Compassion,
Caring,
Consideration

and Comfort.

Those four traits never grow old or fall out of fashion.

THE BONDS OF MATRIMONY

A MAGENT has tow poles.
It doesn’t, it isn’t a magnet!
It’s only a useless hunk of scrap iron.
One of the greatest danger signals
in a marriage is when either partner
no longer feels attracted to the other.

This attraction actually

has very little to do with youth or sex appeal

as some might think. Attraction is based

on how we define and perceive “beauty”

which is an inner quality, not merely a cosmetic

or superficial state of prettiness or style.

True beauty lies in the image of God.

When we see another person

as being created by God’s image,

we begin to see more of their beauty.

The more we acknowledge the beauty

of their creation, the more we are attracted to their beauty.

Part of keeping the magnet working

is seeing your spouse as

“God’s creation in process.”

Your spouse may be influenced and encouraged by you,

but ultimately your spouse is God’s creation.

Your spouse’s beauty is rooted

in what God is doing in his or her life.

You are privilege to watch your spouse’s

beauty unfold and to enjoy the person

your spouse is becoming!

The bonds of matrimony

are worthless unless

the interest is kept up.