I heard an old man say recently that the most important decision you can ever make in your entire life is who you marry. He was an elderly gentleman who had achieved great success in life, but he said that if he did not choose the right person to marry it would not have been worth it.
Out of everything in my life, my marriage is what makes me the proudest. Many would think that I would say my children should hold that place, and of course they make me proud, and I love them, but nothing compares to my marriage. Your children will grow up and have lives of their own. If you’ve raised them right, they, too, will find someone to spend their life with that maintains the same place in their life.
How many couples don’t put the time into their marriage when they’re raising their children and end up splitting up when they drop the last kid off at college? How many husbands stopped dating their wives because they didn’t feel like they needed to any longer?
If you’re asked what makes you the proudest in your life and you’re married, if your marriage isn’t the top answer; you need to re-evaluate, especially if your answer involves your career.
Many people don’t believe in love. They are jaded or believe that true love doesn’t exist; that it is merely something in movies. Many people grew up in a broken home and saw abuse. Many people saw their father use money as a way to control and manipulate their mother. Some might look at marriage as a legal way to control someone. Perhaps some people have a bad view of marriage simply because of their experiences. I have heard people mention the staggering divorce rate in our country as an example as to why marriage doesn’t work. What’s the point anyway if half of all marriages end in divorce?
There are days your partner is not at their best – choose them anyway. There are times when your partner might upset you – love them anyway. Never step outside of your marriage physically or emotionally. No matter how upset you are at your partner – there is something to be said for not airing your dirty laundry and maintaining a level of respect for your partner and marriage.
It’s easy for me to have a romanticized view of marriage because of my upbringing. It wasn’t a stretch to believe in true love because I saw it with my own parents. I knew what a good and healthy marriage looked like. I know the sense of security you have when you’re raised in a home where you see an unbreakable bond between two parents who love each other.
If you’re like me and in the trenches with little ones and being pulled in many different directions with work, social life, and family, do not ever let any of that take priority over your marriage. Choose your partner again and again. Do not ever allow any outside influence to ever penetrate the bond that you share. Raise your children to grow up believing that true love exists.
Husbands, keep dating your wives. Don’t stop buying flowers for her just because you don’t have to any longer. The wedding is when it all starts, not when it ends. To the young couples getting married – remember that. Remember why you got married in the first place. Always keep God at the center of your marriage. Find a faith that you can use as your compass and guide your family, always choose to love and honor each other, and everything else will fall in line.
I thank God every single day that I chose the right man to marry. God put him in my life and I would choose him all over again and will until I die.
“One day, you’ll understand how important it is to choose wisely who to share your laughter, sunsets, and Sundays with, because those are the moments when the heart and soul truly breathe.”
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Megan Rathz is a wife, mother, and teacher. She says everything she has ever learned in life came from her Master Gardener mother.
Absolutely beautiful article and spot on!