Homemaking on the Homestead

The other day my husband walked to the end of our long driveway to get the mail. He saw our neighbor out and said hi to him. They chatted for quite a while. My hubby was ready to come back up to the house so he said to the neighbor, “I better get going or Crystal will put out a missing persons report”. He meant it humorously of course. The neighbor said to him, “So that is what being married is all about”. He is an older man. At first I found the comment a little rude. Then I felt sorry for him. It is sad to think that he feels marriage is about someone else keeping tabs on you all the time. He has missed all the many beautiful things that make a marriage. Dear Mr. Neighbor here are a few things that marriage is about... Warm snuggles on the couch on a cool fall evening A smile from across a room full of people Dancing in the living room A candlelight dinner at home A hand to hold Saying “I love you” hundreds of different ways in all the things...

  Even though my husband & I will celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary this summer I still feel inadequate to give advice on marriage. Maybe because individuals are all different, the dynamics of each relationship is different; people are at different places in their lives and walking different paths. But one thing that has gone through my mind over the years is the two guidelines I’ve found as the basis for married life. Just two guidelines, but within those guidelines is everything that makes a marriage work, in my view. And they are complex but at the crux of marriage. They are from the Bible: Eph 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her. Eph 5:33 Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband. I realize that in the intricacies of life and marriage this is too simplistic. But then again, much of how we react, how we...