Our Wednesday night Bible class at church (which is aimed at college students) is about Christian marriage this semester. It has been interesting for Jack and I as we are called on from time to time to offer insight on the subject. Last week we were asked to participate on a marriage panel. Other couples also participated. The couple who was married the longest had been married for over 50 years which is no small thing these days. There was a "newlywed game" which Jack and I lost and then some time for us just to answer questions. Getting different perspectives from different couples who had been married for different lengths of time was eye-opening, even for me.
Tonight I went out to dinner with 3 other wonderful Christian women. Two of us were married and the other two were single. As usual, part of the conversation dealt with men and those of us who were married found ourselves talking about the adjustments that marriage brings to your life. Issues like where to squeeze the toothpaste tube and which side of the bed to sleep on can become sources of stress like they never were when you were single and had complete control of your own toothpaste. Shortly after Jack and I were married I accidentally gave him a black eye with my elbow when I turned over in bed. Oops. We went to church that week and everyone gave me dirty looks. I had alot of explaining to do.
I am thankful that God created marriage. Being married to Jack has richly blessed my life. That's not to say that we don't have challenges...all marriages do. However, with God's help we have been able to work together through tough times and I believe we will continue to work through them as they arise. We've got the toothpaste thing figured out (with a handy little tool that you put on the end of the tube). We're still working on some of the others. :)
