Happy Anniversary to us!
May 6, 2009 - will mark 25 years of marital bliss...ummm...bliss could be overstating things a bit.
If you think I'm being too harsh, let me ask you, how long have you been married if you can count it all bliss...5 minutes? If you look up the synonyms for bliss you'll find heaven, paradise, ecstacy...hmmm...can anyone really use those words in any relationship? I'm not even going to ask Wes that one because I know that living with me has not been any one of those words.
One of my favorite comedic writers is Martha Bolton. A number of years ago she wrote a booklet called "If Mr. Clean calls, tell him I'm not in!" Now that's my kind of woman!
One of my favorite blurbs from this book comes from the chapter entitled "My Love is like a Red Red Nose"
"When my husband stopped our wedding ceremony to adjust the chapel thermostat, I should have know what kind of life I was destined to lead with him - especially since I had adjusted it to my liking on my way down the aisle...and when it came time to lift the veil, I told him to put it back down he was letting in a draft."
Another favorite tiny chapter in this book is "From Endless Love to Romancing the Stone" and it goes like this;
"You know the romance has gone out of your marriage when the last time your husband said "Babe" was when that pig movie was getting ready to come out."
Martha continues on...
"I'll never forget the year my husband gave car mats to me for our anniversary. And, as if that wasn't breathtaking enough, he later took me to a very classy restaurant for dinner - you know, one of those places where you're not allowed to honk in their drive through lane. That was the same year I wrapped up a weed whacker and a bunion file for his gifts."
And who says romance is dead?
"Recently we've come to realize you've got to work at keeping a marriage fresh and exciting. If the only reason you dim the lights is to get the glare off the television, and the only cuddling you're doing is when the heater breaks down in your car, then perhaps it's time to work a little harder at maintaining that "first-love" relationship."
"When my husband and I first met, my heart fluttered. His heart fluttered. Now when our hearts flutter we just take an antacid.
Back then we made sure we looked our best for each other too. He had to have every hair in place and I had to look as though I had just stepped off the cover of Vogue magazine (or at least the first couple of pages).
After a few comfortable years of marriage, however, all that's changed. Oh, he still keeps every hair in place, but it really doesn't take that much time to mousse the two of them. And these days I look more like I stepped off the cover of Bathrobes Quarterly.
...I don't let little things bother me anymore, either - like snoring. I bought some earplugs and now my husband says he can't even hear me."
So does Martha describe your marriage to a 'T'? To a point I think she does, but what words can describe, only in part, this wonderful thing called 'marriage'?
Commitment, faith and fits of laughter, selective hearing, grace and private jokes, forgiveness, security and passion.
Do I have any advice for newlyweds or oldyweds? Not really, I'm still on the learning curve of life, but so far this is just a glimpse into what I've gleaned from the last twenty-five years and particularly these past seven months...
To all those who have ever had or will have an Anniversary...I wish you many more years of committed happiness! I'm praying for twenty-five more...how about you?
"For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him." 2 Chronicles 16:9
If you think I'm being too harsh, let me ask you, how long have you been married if you can count it all bliss...5 minutes? If you look up the synonyms for bliss you'll find heaven, paradise, ecstacy...hmmm...can anyone really use those words in any relationship? I'm not even going to ask Wes that one because I know that living with me has not been any one of those words.
One of my favorite comedic writers is Martha Bolton. A number of years ago she wrote a booklet called "If Mr. Clean calls, tell him I'm not in!" Now that's my kind of woman!
One of my favorite blurbs from this book comes from the chapter entitled "My Love is like a Red Red Nose"
"When my husband stopped our wedding ceremony to adjust the chapel thermostat, I should have know what kind of life I was destined to lead with him - especially since I had adjusted it to my liking on my way down the aisle...and when it came time to lift the veil, I told him to put it back down he was letting in a draft."
Another favorite tiny chapter in this book is "From Endless Love to Romancing the Stone" and it goes like this;
"You know the romance has gone out of your marriage when the last time your husband said "Babe" was when that pig movie was getting ready to come out."
Martha continues on...
"I'll never forget the year my husband gave car mats to me for our anniversary. And, as if that wasn't breathtaking enough, he later took me to a very classy restaurant for dinner - you know, one of those places where you're not allowed to honk in their drive through lane. That was the same year I wrapped up a weed whacker and a bunion file for his gifts."
And who says romance is dead?
"Recently we've come to realize you've got to work at keeping a marriage fresh and exciting. If the only reason you dim the lights is to get the glare off the television, and the only cuddling you're doing is when the heater breaks down in your car, then perhaps it's time to work a little harder at maintaining that "first-love" relationship."
"When my husband and I first met, my heart fluttered. His heart fluttered. Now when our hearts flutter we just take an antacid.
Back then we made sure we looked our best for each other too. He had to have every hair in place and I had to look as though I had just stepped off the cover of Vogue magazine (or at least the first couple of pages).
After a few comfortable years of marriage, however, all that's changed. Oh, he still keeps every hair in place, but it really doesn't take that much time to mousse the two of them. And these days I look more like I stepped off the cover of Bathrobes Quarterly.
...I don't let little things bother me anymore, either - like snoring. I bought some earplugs and now my husband says he can't even hear me."
So does Martha describe your marriage to a 'T'? To a point I think she does, but what words can describe, only in part, this wonderful thing called 'marriage'?
Commitment, faith and fits of laughter, selective hearing, grace and private jokes, forgiveness, security and passion.
Do I have any advice for newlyweds or oldyweds? Not really, I'm still on the learning curve of life, but so far this is just a glimpse into what I've gleaned from the last twenty-five years and particularly these past seven months...
Share your faith with excitement.
Don't waste the moments in anger.
Remember to laugh.
Talk to each other as if it's the last conversation you'll ever have.
To all those who have ever had or will have an Anniversary...I wish you many more years of committed happiness! I'm praying for twenty-five more...how about you?
"For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him." 2 Chronicles 16:9
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