Faithfulness In Marriage

 I am to be marry to the man of my dreams in 5 short months. We have been courting for 7 months & yet I am still in shock & surprised by it all! Mark is amazing & I do not deserve someone as awesome as him in my life!!! He has exceeded my wildest dreams! God's ways are definitely better than our ways!!! :) [Isaiah 55:8-9]

In preparation for getting married, my mind have turned towards thoughts of love, marriage, children, a house of our own etc. Asking questions like, "What does a God-centered marriage look like? How can I best serve & honor my husband? What is 'true love'? What does 'true love' look like?" I am thinking about the sacredness, solemnity & responsibility of marriage. Of the real depth & magnitude of the words "'til death do us part."

On those lines, if someone were to ask me what character qualities I most desire/ look for in a husband, I would definitely say that he must be a man of strong faith. No if's, and's or but's about it.

But a close second to that would be that he must plan on being faithful, a man of no compromise. This is very important to me. Divorce is not an option, in my eyes.

Two & a half years ago, something happened that radically changed the way I view everything- God, faith, family, life, love, marriage etc. Not a day goes by that I don't think about it all. September 2010 was the hardest thing that I have ever walked through. [You can read more about that situation here]

Back then, my friends & I had a lot of conversations about what real love, faithfulness in marriage, sacrificial love etc look like. About what really matters in life. How there is a "slow fade" into sin. [Here I am reminded of the "Slow Fade" song by Casting Crowns] How it starts with small, baby steps in the wrong direction & all of a sudden, you wake up, years later & you are way off the beaten path, not knowing how in the world you ended up there! What we can do, to keep "that" from happening with us. The importance of prayer, accountability, community etc. How we are Called to a life of integrity, of living "without a hint of... immorality" (Ephesians 5:3) in our lives

Almost 3 years later, I still haven't forgotten those conversations. This desire for purity, faithfulness, accountability etc has not waned. If anything, it has grown stronger with time. I want my marriage to "go against the odds." To change the divorce statistics (that one in two marriages end in divorce; how more 'Christian' marriages end in divorce, than those of unbelievers!) To show the world what real, Christ-like, God-centered, sacrificial love looks like.

"Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall."
- 1 Corinthians 10:12

"From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded;
& from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked."

- Luke 12:48b