Marriage Maintenance and Repair

by Kenneth Westby

“In sickness and in health; till death do us part.” Hundreds of times I’ve said those words as bride and groom dutifully repeated them as their own vows. I’m sure they meant those solemn promises and at the moment thought they would be able to honor them. After all, love covers all and the newlyweds are in love. Well, not so fast. Many times I wondered after performing a marriage ceremony if the couple would make the marriage work. In a few weeks JoAn and I will have been married fifty years and can both testify to ups and downs and to the commitment required to make a marriage work.

And it’s not just “work” toward a “lasting” union that is the sole goal here, but the reaping of the luscious fruit of a happy, love-filled dynamic marriage: joy, comfort, security, friendship, companionship, pleasure, challenge, adventure, and the list goes on. What happens to the smooth newlywed life when a grave, disabling injury comes along; when job loss puts all plans on hold; when arguments over money problems dominate time together; when arguments with relatives complicate the relationship; when children are born; when weight is gained or beauty wanes; when sex and attraction become issues both within and outside the marriage; when the romance disappears; when communication dries up or becomes banal or antagonistic, and this list could go on ticking off a common array of potholes into which many marriages sink. But marriage is too important to end in failure. Uniqueness of Marriage Marriage is fundamental to channeling human nature in positive directions…”

(This article is an excerpt from the May-June 2014 edition of the Sabbath Sentinel)

To read the rest of this article, which starts on page 4, click this link:

http://biblesabbath.org/media/TSS_lowres_3-4-14_No-567.pdf