Celebrating Marital Bliss
Marriage Must be for Keeps if
It is to be Enjoyed
By Bill Ellis
Special to ASSIST News Service
CBN.com
– SCOTT DEPOT, WV (ANS) -- Recently,
my wife and I celebrated another wedding anniversary. They seem
to come so quickly. Perhaps that is because we have so much fun
from one to the other.
Robert Louis Stevenson, famous Scottish author, once called it,
“A field of battle, not a bed of roses.” We started
on the road to marriage with a dozen red roses. I met Kitty about
three weeks before her twenty-first birthday. A few days later
I left town on business.
I did, however, remember the date of her birthday. How did I
find that out in such a short period of time? Young people sometimes
talk about strange and important things during those getting acquainted
days. You guessed correctly. I sent a dozen roses for that special
birthday. Periodically, roses or other flowers have been a part
of our romance.
After two years of dating, becoming better acquainted, asking
and answering a lot of questions, becoming familiar with our families
and backgrounds, our hopes and dreams, we decided it was time
to be married to each other and spend the rest of our lives together.
That was the best decision I ever made.
College days were completed. Graduate school had reached past
the halfway mark on a 90 semester-hour degree. My determination
not to marry until college was finished and advanced studies were
well in hand had been realized. June 4 was the date chosen for
the wedding in Springfield, Ohio. We both knew we were marrying
the whole family and for that reason our brothers and sisters
as well as our parents were participants in the ceremony with
Dr. Harold W. Boyer.
Three weeks later we set sail on a seven-week trip to Europe.
We learned a lot out in the middle of the Atlantic about life,
each other, friends, and living together. I have learned since
that day that Heinrich Heine was correct when he described marriage
as “The high sea for which no compass has yet been invented.”
Every day since the wedding has confirmed for me that I married
the most beautiful, exciting, talented, and intelligent woman
I have ever met. All of those things I hoped for in a marriage
have been mine to enjoy. I do hope Kitty reads this column because
she is the fulfillment of my best dreams.
For a marriage to last and be enjoyable, all thought of perfection
must be laid aside. My wife learned very early in our courtship
that she would not be married to a perfect man if she continued
the path she had taken. Where either spouse expects perfection
an imperfect marriage is the result. A lot of mutual understanding
and forgiveness must be among the key ingredients of a successful
marriage.
I would encourage anybody thinking about marriage or already
married to read a beautiful love story in the Bible. Their names
are very popular in our time, and “So Jacob served seven
years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him
because of his love for her” (Genesis 29:20, NIV). Perhaps
that is one reason why long marriages seem to go by so quickly.
Marriage involves a lifetime of commitment to each other. Separation
and divorce are poor options. When a man and a woman are joined
in holy wedlock, they should stay locked to each other until separated
by death. Young Mark records the perfect words of Jesus on this
matter, “Therefore what God has joined together, let not
man separate” (Mark 10:9, NKJV).
A solid marriage is what Gilbert Keith Chesterton called “An
armed alliance against the outside world.” It is not easy
in our world, but a man and a woman who are tied together in the
bonds of holy love can joyfully make it.
Bill Ellis is a syndicated columnist, and convention
and conference speaker on every continent. He is the writer of
more than 1,600 columns and widely known as a motivator utilizing
enjoyment of life and just plain fun and laughter while speaking
to high school, university, and professional sports teams, as
well as to business and professional groups of all kinds. His
keen understanding of human problems make him a favorite speaker
for youth, parent, and senior adult meetings. He is accompanied
by Kitty, his wife, favorite singer, editor, and publisher.
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