What matters most

"I will be faithful to my husband and honor him in my conduct and conversation in order to bring glory to the Name of the Lord. I will aspire to be a suitable partner for him, to help him reach his God-given potential"

My husband and I met while we were in college..we like to joke that the only good thing that came out of going to college was that we met each other *smiles* We've been together 8 years, married for 7...from the start we were inseperable, he didn't leave my side and I didn't leave his.

My view on love was so skewed back then. I was young, just 18 when I got married, he was 20. I can remember thinking that I wanted a guy who would never make me cry. Who would always be on my side. Who would love me for who I am. He would never judge me. We would get married and live happily ever after...

Boy was I wrong! My view of marriage was selfish. I would get all the attention and never have to give anything in return.

The author of our book "Resolution for Women" tells about a time before her wedding when a woman came up to her and asked her a very poignant question:

"If he never does anything different, if he never changes or becomes anyone other than the man he is right now, can you love him, honor him and commit yourself to him for the rest of your life?"

Sometimes I wish someone would have sat me down to have a talk like that before I got married. There have been times in my marriage that I have whole-heartedly regretted our decision to marry so young, then there are other times that over power those thoughts and I thank God for the lessons I've learned in these past 8 years.

If you are newly married or have never been married you need to know right here and now that things will not always be blistful, you will not always have butterflies and rainbows in your vision. Before those times come, you need to make the decision to love your husband no matter what.

Our hearts can be decieved. Feelings come and go, love is a choice that needs to be made every single day, in the hard times even more than the good times. God chooses to love us despite our failings, we need to choose, resolve to love our husbands despite his.

"Any woman resolving to fulfill her husband must understand that a major part of her role in marriage will be to value, support, honor and encourage him, even when it goes against every last nerve impulse in her body. It's the gift you commit to give him when you marry him-to provide a soft place for him to fall when he feels discouraged by his own faults and intimidated by the world's pressures. You are committing to be FOR him even when you'd rather be against him. You are determining to be faithful to him, pledging to reserve physical and emotional intimacy only for him."

I know this can be hard (believe me I know) and if you are going through something with your husband right now that makes you want to scream at this post and then go scream at him, I understand sister, but alas, this journey we are on is not about him...it's about us and the one thing we can do right now above all else is choose to be faithful to our husbands no matter what. Pray and ask God to help you on this journey, and keep moving forward.