Monday, May 28, 2012

8 years and 6 days

A lot of people don’t know this about me, but I actually suffer from the illness known as “hopeless romantic syndrome.” It’s quite serious, and there is no known cure. Some people think being let down in romance is the best medicine to alleviate this syndrome, but true hopeless romantics still hold on to a constant desire for fulfillment.

“Husbands, love your wives…love your wives as you love yourself…he who loves his wife loves himself” (Ephesians 5:25–28).

I’ve often reflected on God’s call for women to be submissive and men to love their wives. In recent years, I’ve come to the conclusion that this call is for us to go beyond what is natural for us. I hate to use sweeping generalizations, but women tend to find it easy to lead, and men usually have little trouble in taking care of their own desires. So God asks us, in our marriages, to do the opposite of what is easy for us—women: step back, and let your husband step up; men: put your wives’ quiet desires ahead of yours, and cherish her openly and honestly. That cherishing makes a passionate marriage.

Genesis describes the union of marriage as two people being united into one (2:24), and this union is supposed to continue on in passion throughout growing old together: “May you rejoice in the wife of your youth…may you ever be captivated by her love” (Proverbs 5:18–19). Notice that Proverbs doesn’t say, “May you endure your lives together.” These verses ask for the blessing of a forever passion: captivated in love.

As of today, I've been married 8 years and 6 days. It's not always easy, but I pray for that captivation in our lives. Truly, I hope my hopeless romantic syndrome is hereditary, that it brings a level of romantic and passionate fulfillment (and not frustration) to the marriages of my children.    

May 22, 2004

5 years married, with Jack in womb

Take a look at us now!

this post is linked up with
The Alabaster Jar



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8 comments:

  1. Sweet. Thanks for posting this. Coming from Marital Oneness.

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  2. Wonderful post! Thanks for sharing this at The Alabaster Jar. I do hope you join me each week for this linkup because I think you're a wonderful fit!

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  3. Beautiful post. I had a hard time with submission when he only cared about his own interests. I'm still working out what submission means.
    Sue

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    1. Submission isn't easy. I usually don't write about what I'm great at--I write what I need to think and study on.

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  4. I doing the Good Morning Girls study on the Proverbs 31 woman and being woken up to what I have been focused on and what I should have been focused on. You are right it's not about enduring but about not focusing on ourselves. Being a servant to each other. Thanks for linking up at Caffeinated Randomness.

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    1. And submission is sometimes thought of as being an "underling," but great leaders are true servants.

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