What a Drunk Reminded Me About Marriage

I was blessed to enjoy a weekend away with my husband in the beautiful city of Philadelphia. The weekend was fun, relaxing, and refreshing and we thoroughly enjoyed our time together. Instead of driving, we took the train and fully immersed ourselves into city living! We did a lot of walking and also experienced our first taxi ride--yes, we are sheltered, country folk!

On our 5:00 train-ride home last evening, we happened to find ourselves in the same train car as quite a few Eagles fans. Let me rephrase that: a few drunk and boisterous Eagles fans. Two drunk men apparently had their curiosity peaked at two women traveling back from a bachelorette weekend in New York City. The very loud, flirtatious conversation had everyone in the car listening, but as time went on, I became more and more restless in my spirit. 

Here was a guy, drunk and immature who, I learned, was already in a relationship and had a child on the way, flirting with a woman, already married, and her sister who was engaged. This woman did nothing to stop the situation from progressing. Her giggles and comments only fueled the fire. I couldn't help but wonder if each of their significant others witnessed the conversation unfold, how hurt, sad, and un-trusting they would become.

This experience came only hours after my husband and I toured the Eastern Penitentiary where we saw graphs proving the United States' incarceration rate far exceeds any other country in the world!



The problem fueling that fire?!

I strongly believe it is due to the breakdown of the family. And from my observations on the train, the breakdown of the family continues because relationships lack trust, maturity, respect, and honor. Instead, they are full of deceit, selfishness, evil, and shallow promises. The decline in our culture is all directly related; but I have faith that if we can fix our families and marriages, we can impact our entire culture, country and world. 

How do we do this? It seems so simple and so hard all at the same time! 

Men must rise up to be godly leaders in our homes, churches, and communities. Men need to love, cherish and pursue their wives, speak her love language, and serve unselfishly.

Women must rise up to be a support, encouragement, and praying foundations in our homes, churches, and communities. Women need to love, respect, and honor their husbands, speak his love language, and serve unselfishly. 

We all must remember that the vows we say to each other on our wedding day are sacred and holy. The weight of the words, "for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness, and in health, to love and cherish, until death do us part" seems so easily forgotten when we face the various challenges in marriage. So many couples think the easy way is "out/done/over", but forget the blessed way is "invest/hope/persevere".

Is your marriage vibrant and thriving? Or is it stale and monotonous? Or maybe it's on the rocks and headed towards divorce? Wherever you find yourself today, I pray that God, in His miraculous power, blows fresh and vibrant life into your relationship. It's never too late to rededicate your life and marriage to the Lord. Draw close to God and He will draw you and your spouse closer together.

Mark 10:6-9 says," 6 “But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’ 7 ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife,[b] 8 and the two will become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

Godly marriages and families are the healing balm to our broken nation. 

Godly marriages and families are under attack and breaking them apart is Satan's most-used tool today. 

Be on your guard, invest in your marriage, stand strong, love deeply, and press on!

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