Love and Marriage

So C and I were driving to school this morning and as we were pulling out of the driveway, I thought I would start a potentially funny conversation with my 4 year old....


"Hey C, do you think you will want to get married at our house one day?"


"Huh?" she so eloquently responded.


"Do you think (in 20 years) when you get married, you will want to get married at church and then have a big party at our house?"


Her eyes lit up at "big party..."


"I'm gonna marry Walker. Emma used to say that she would marry Walker, but now she says 'Fine, I will marry Samuel.' So, I'm gonna marry Walker."


"Who's Ella going to marry?"


"I dunno."


"Do you think that you and Walker can live together FOREVER, play together EVERY day, and eat dinner together EVERY night? Would you want to be with him that much, or do you think you might need a break from each other every now and then? (Knowing that M and I still need a break from each other every now and then too, but I was making a point:))"




Blank stare...





"In other words, is Walker your best friend...best boy friend? Because you want to marry your best friend and it has to be a boy." (I am really not excited about having to explain other people in this world that choose to marry their same kind...) Daddy is my best friend and we played together for 4 years before we got married!"


"Maggie's gonna marry Barritt. She loves Barritt."


I could tell that she was processing this "over her head" conversation in her precious little mind, but we were not going to get anywhere else with it. So, I chalked it up as a cute, fun talk about the importance of choosing a life-long partner.



{Insert soap-box}



In this day, we have to be so careful about our kids and their boyfriends and girlfriends. But, I fear we are losing the innocence and purity of elementary love. We are designed to love and we learn God's love through relationships that we have on Earth. Whether it is from our parents, puppy loves, high school "love"/crushes, and/or eventually the love of our soul mate with whom the Lord has paired us.


I have shared with many people that I feel that I really met the Lord when I met M. M will puff-up at that comment to be funny, but he knows what I mean. I never knew how to trust in the Lord. I always knew that the Lord was our Creator and Protector, but I did not ever fully put my life in his hands. When I had hard times, I did not pray to Him for help. I prayed to thank him for everything, but never asked him for anything.



M and I dated for 4 years...long distance. It was the most emotional thing that I have ever done. I knew that the plan for my life included him, but we couldn't be together until I graduated from college. I cried so much because I just wanted to be with him all the time. So, I began to pray for patience, a time-machine, something to make it do"able." And it was. Our wedding was the most exciting day of my life. Finally, we would be together EVERY day, eat EVERY dinner together, and live together FOREVER! (Until we needed a break, of course!)


I desperately want that for my kids. I want them to find the love that we have, take it seriously, and never let it go. I have prayed that for my little sister and brother too. (One of them is on their way-I think-and the other needs to get busy!)


Paul Newman died last weekend, and his wife of over 50 years said that the thing that attracted her to him for so long was his sense of humor. He always made her laugh. (And he was a hottie!) Well, that is M for me...a hottie that always makes me laugh. I will love him until we die, not only because I promised God I would, but because as long as he's cracking jokes...I'm hooked and not going anywhere!


So, if Walker can keep C laughing, they have our blessing. Plus, we love their family. Visit their blog sometime if you haven't already. It's mostly about his little sister, Ivey, but the boys get some "press" too! Great people...

http://www.iveysirmans.blogspot.com/

So, lets keep instilling the importance of Christian marriages to our kids. The world will try to rip them apart and we have to fight with everything we have from God to keep them together. We have to help each other in this battle because we certainly cannot do it on our own.

Lord, bless our marriages and our children's. Use every opportunity to remind us how lucky we are to have love. Not only the love of our spouse, but your love, God. Thank you for loving us first. In your son's loving name, Amen.