Christine posed the following questions for this week’s Marriage Monday…
- How do the media, friends, extended family and other outside influences affect your attitude in your marriage?
- What are some resources of encouragement for you in your pursuit of godly wifehood?
- Where would your husband say he falls in your list of priorities from day to day? Where on the list do you think he should be? If the answers to the last 2 questions don’t match up, how can you remedy that?
To answer the first question, I really need to break it down. Media was never an issue for me to influence my view of marriage. Even the years when I was not walking in step with the Lord…I could never sit still long enough to hear people talk about what a marriage should be like.
My parent’s marriage had a huge impact on our marriage. My dad was actually the one telling me to leave Germany to join my husband…At first, I felt a little betrayed, but my dad of course was right.
I thank the Lord that He put godly friends in my path here in the US. I don’t think that I would have survived without them and their council.
But what really changed our marriage was by Divine intervention. Trust me when I say that…I have read Ephesians 5:21-32 many times. God really got my attention about 2 years ago. I purchased the book “Love & Respect†and I truly believe that this resource in combination with God’s Word has saved my marriage. I truly recommend every woman (and man) to read this book. Believe me; it will change your marriage from average/good to just plain beautiful. At least it worked for our marriage 🙂 . Another book that goes with Love & Respect, is “For Women Onlyâ€â€¦You will never look at your man the same way (in a good way). A daily resource for me is Proverbs 31 and their devotionals.
To the last question: If you would have asked my husband three years ago where he would be on my priority list, he would have said “dead lastâ€â€”sadly it was the truth…I took him for granted. Today, after God, he is in the #2 spot, where he should have been since we got married. Today, if he wants to do something, I clear my schedule in no time. I drop everything–no matter what (except if our son needs a ride 🙂 ) . The funny thing is that my mom told me that years ago…She said “you will never know how much longer you have togetherâ€. Isn’t that the truth?
There is still so much I have to learn; especially when it comes to communication…With God’s help I know that I can become the wife my husband deserves to have…
“Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,
but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
Give her of the fruit of her hands,
and let her works praise her in the gates.†~ Proverbs 31:30-31 (ESV)
Blessings on your Monday afternoon and as always,
Well I tell you Iris that I have been married 43 years now and without God in my marriage and putting my husband at the top of my list I do not think…IN FACT I know our marriage would never have made it this long…You have to have the order correct!! I have always said that God is the Glue in our marriage. I am so glad that you learned the correct order..Sandy
It is so wonderful to see your own marriage grow, isn’t it? It can grow in little steps or big leaps and we have had both. Thanks for participating and sharing a bit more about you and your wonderful hubby! I’ve written down the book “Love and Respect” so I can check it out.
It doesn’t matter where we are at in our marriage relationship — there is always room for improvement and learning. They day that we stop doing that is the day that our relationship grows old and starts to die. I’ll have to look into those books.
This was great, thanks for sharing Iris. I am going to read both of those books, blessings to you.
Wow. I’ve read “Love & Respect” too, and my husband and I are very sporadically reading it together. God used it to change my attitude towards my husband too.
Thank you for your honesty, and for learning to be an example to others…though I’m sure you didn’t realize that’s what you’re doing now! 🙂 Especially to your son.
We have so much in common, well, not reading but…. and I, too, would drop it all for my husband – even if just to do nothing but be by him! My folks did impact my marriage but not in a way that I wanted to model their marriage.
Bravo!! I just turned to my husband and asked,”where do you think you are in my list of priorities?” He, jokingly I think, said somewhere in the top 10.
We have been married 40 years. I can’t say it has always been easy or that I’ve always been happy. I do know I would be miserable without him. I believe he is a gift to me from God. I believe God had a plan for us to get together. I believe he is #2 in my life. He certianly comes 1st when it comes to making plans with other people. Friday night is date night. We always spend quality time together. But if my husband is in town, I would never plan to do something at night without him unless it was a Women’s church event. And those are rare. I have the book, Love & Respect. In fact I just bought it.
Thanks for sharing…..I am always inspired by you!
Blessings
I love reading success stories! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Iris,
This is a fabulous post. An honest and worthy picture of your heart. Thank you.
I’ve been meaning to tell you that I am adding those books to my reading list! I think I’ll put them on My Spring Reading Thing Challenge that Katrina is hosting.