I was walking on the treadmill the other day and I was listening to my usual Keith Urban station on Pandora.  A song by Lee Brice came on and the chorus really caught my ear. The song was the story of a couple who married really young and were celebrating 58 years together. The older man is asked by the younger person how he did it.  The older guy answered him with these words:

“Be a best friend, tell the truth

And overuse “I love you”

Go to work, do your best

Don’t outsmart your common sense

Never let your praying’ knees get lazy

And love like crazy.”

I have thought a lot about those words and how they ring such truth. Biblical marriage says that a man should leave his mother and father and cling to his wife.  What does that mean in today’s world.  Well, my answer is, it means the same that it did from the beginning of time.  You marry that person, you commit to love them through sickness, health, richness, poorness, until death parts you.  That’s what I was taught.  That’s what Mike and I taught our children. This is the inheritance that I have received from my grandparents and parents.  With mine and Mike’s four sets of grandparents and our parents and ourselves we have logged in 354 years of marriage. I hope that his will always be a good model for our own children and grandchildren.

Marriage is not a perfect institution and there will be problems along the way, but you never, never, never give up or give in to the negativity that surrounds those problems.  I do believe that along with the old man’s advice that you should also make sure that you have strong, open communication. Don’t be afraid to share, share your deepest desires and hopes…dream together.

The greatest advice that exists is to “never let your praying knees get lazy.”

Prayer is the strongest tool that any married couple has. Scripture says that we bring all our needs to the Lord.  There is a particular passage in Psalm 37 that says:

“Delight yourself in the Lord,

and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the Lord;

trust in him, and he will act.”

Jesus will act for you.  Pray and seek an intimate relationship with Jesus

first and the intimacy of marriage will be strong and forever.

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