Twenty-six Years and Counting

 

This is the twenty-sixth year of being married to my funny, sweet husband. If you read the blog last week, my husband literally rode to my rescue to make sure I was not stranded five hours away. Even though it ended up not being necessary, he still loaded up my car and me just to spend time with me. Over the years, I've watched the world's idea of marriage. A comedian from India commented that celebrating 25 years of marriage was no big deal. Everyone there  was married a long time, while in America, it's a big deal if you stick it out for a few years. I think the problem with longevity in marriage is the warped view of how marriage should look. Social media shows the best highlights of life. If you're honest, no one wants to post themselves on their worst day- the meal that they burnt to a crisp or a selfie with no makeup and crazy hair. People choose to show the best. The problem with this is that you find yourself comparing your life to the highlight reels of everyone else. And when your life doesn't measure up, there must be something wrong. If we're not careful our lives become made up if subscriptions instead of real relationships. I remember as a teen (and I'm dating myself here) subscribing to the Columbia House. You couldn't beat 12 cassette tapes for one cent. The problem was that once you signed up for the amazing introductory offer, you were stuck in a subscription. When you got tired of the cost to remain in the subscription, you started looking for ways out of it. You move your subscription elsewhere. This issue has spread to everyday lives- whether it's attending a church, working at a job, or staying in a relationship. When things get hard and it costs us something, and it will, we start looking for a way out. How have my husband and I made it this long? It's not because we have a perfect relationship. We don't. It's not because we have no differences. We do. It's because we decided long ago that if we want to make something work, we have to work. When it gets hard (keep in mind we've been through health battles with our children and my husband, money issues when the kids were young and I stayed home with them, and many moves over the years) we will work harder. We've seen each other's weaknesses and failures, but have chosen to be more than a subscriber. We've chosen to be committed to each other. So whether it's your job, relationship, or church, what could God do through you if you made a choice to be more than a subscriber?

Have a great week high-heeled warriors!