TOGETHER

Reflections from Ken: 

Marriage can be described as "and the two shall become one". That's together. From that first encounter with one another you can't wait to be together again. For us there was a year of long distance relationship. At 18, Chris went away to college in Kemptville - 5 hours away - we had the odd weekend together, some holidays. We wrote each other - steamy letters of "can't wait to see you again"- to be together. Then came the engagement - that commitment to each other. You do things together - maybe sports, movies, common interests, time with other friends, sometimes work, walking together, planning the wedding, the honeymoon, even just snuggling. 

Then the marriage - your first child - here's the scene: 

You and your wife walking together, holding hands with your son/daughter between you. Is this the end of the together? It could be. 

Here's where you plan your family together - some goals. We're talking about discipline, school choices, sharing your faith, religious beliefs, even food choices. 

So now as you do with your kids when you have them help you plant that beautiful little spruce tree in your front lawn so 15 years later when they come home from university for the holidays they walk in the yard  and proudly say, "I helped plant that 30-40 foot beauty.' 

So the same with your wife/husband

Maybe on your first or tenth anniversary plant that rose bush by the house and now ten years later there is a magnificent array of flowers to remind you of what you did together. So build positive memories. It might be as you drive past that group of cabins in Muskoka where you spent $70 for a week long honeymoon stay - including food - a private beach - a motor boat and gas, or where you and your family had the amazing time together at the water park on a vacation in BC. 

For us, one night as we lay in bed both awake at 2 am window open, we hear the loud screeching of tires and then the crash of a car. That quickens your senses . We jump out of bed together run downstairs to get the truck and drive up the road to the railway crossing to find a young couple's car in the ditch by the tracks on their way home from a Kitchener band competition. They had fallen asleep. Not badly injured, we took them into our care and made appropriate phone calls (pre cell phones) and waited with them until a tow truck and their parents arrived. We asked them if they knew what would happen if they had died. We shared our faith in Jesus with them then went back to bed. What a night - together! 

As you age, things change - could be work circumstances, interests, physical abilities/limitations, any number of these can cause a breaking apart. So, we must take time to go on dates. When was the last time you and your spouse laughed together? Plan together? Eat meals together?  Enjoy your children together? Your grandchildren? Together? You may be their best example of what a forever marriage can look like. So give it your best shot. 

Do two walk together, unless they have agreed to do so (Amos 3:3 NIV).