Marriage Recipe

This weekend, Nathan and I had a chance to get away and attend a Marriage Retreat with our church. It was really good for both of us to just get away and spend some much needed time together. The retreat was awesome, and we heard those much needed things we already know but sometimes forget to apply to our marriage everyday. The speakers were awesome and we got to know some really neat couples as well. Thanks Craig and Anita (long time friends and mentors of ours) for putting together a great weekend.

It was funny because this weekend made me think back to something I had found a few weeks ago while cleaning. My New Year's Resolution this year was to be more organized with EVERYTHING in my life. We just recently organized our closet with more shelving and storage, we cleaned and organized the kids rooms and closets, and we are getting ready to do the basement next (big task ahead). A while back while cooking the kids some dinner, I thought, "Why not organize my recipe cards so that I can actually find something we might try and cook one night?" So I started digging into a mess of recipe cards that have been passed on to me from friends, family, little pieces of scrap paper with scribbles of a recipe on it. Several of them had no title so I had to read through those to try and figure out what it actually was for. Nice huh? Well as I was rummaging through them, I found this recipe for "A Happy Marriage" card that a friend of my moms gave me at a wedding shower back in the day. I loved it and thought that I would post it.

Recipe for... "A Happy Marriage"

From... Denise H

Prep Time... October 1, 1996 (when we started dating)

Cooking Time... 50+ years

Recipe is ...Complicated

Serves...2

Ingredients and Directions...Take two happy people- one male and one female- and separate them from their parents. Add the following ingredients in generous proportions: Love, Acceptance, Respect, Communication, Patience, Kindness, Gentleness, Self-Control, Commitment, Faith, Hope and Truth.

Mix together, then thoroughly sift in daily life and prayer. Strain out jealousy, arrogance, selfishness, provocation and accounting of wrongs. Bake in the trials and tribulations of life for 50+ years then celebrate when golden.

Now that is one recipe that I want to make sure I have all the ingredients and follow precisely and then pass on to my kids one day.

Being married takes work, it is not always going to be easy. We leave our families, homes and comfort zones, and cleave to our spouse. We make them our number one priority, respect them in every way, encourage them daily, we must be submissive and continuously pray for each other. We then weave a strand of 3 chords (you, your spouse and Christ) that will not be easily broken when trials arise...which they will and do. Keeping Christ the center of our marriage has helped us overcome many trials in our marriage. I am so grateful to have a husband who has each and everyone of those ingredients mentioned above in the recipe. I am truly blessed in so many ways.

~This weekend at the Retreat~