“Do not think you can make a girl lovely if you do not make her happy?” ~John Ruskin
Though not bad in this, it would have been better especially for my wife, children (and me), had I stumbled across this quote as a new husband and father. When things get difficult, a natural part of any relationship, there is a tendency justified or not, to withdraw or point the finger of blame at the first and most convenient ‘target’… those closest. (Finger pointing will always be the adversary’s tool)
My wife and I are bound by covenants, promises to each other and to Jesus Christ, that make us happier the more we live them.[i] Living this ‘plan of happiness’[ii], is God’s plan for us to return to Him. When the world and life treat me ‘poorly’, it’s time for me to ‘buck up and weather it’ cheerfully and constructively. (For any and all of us including those unmarried, and our children, yoked to Jesus Christ is the only real real way to long term happiness, ‘for His yoke is easy and his burden light’… He pulls with us.) That approach, with prayer, has Christ on our side and though we may have difficulty that stretches out indefinitely, life’s much easier with than without Him[iii].
And… it has made all the difference. The difficult times we have weathered together, stayed together because we were both bound by covenants and yoked to Christ, are now positive, constructive memories to us and our children.
“Winning a love once is not enough. Keep winning it… In the last analysis, it’s up to you to save your marriage (kdm… and family within it).”~Herbert S. Howe
