Dear Young Married Gal,
So now you have found your "knight in shining armor" and you have finally reached your goal of being married! From now on, life will be all love and bliss! Right?! Wrong!
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| LeRoy and Evelyn on their wedding day, December 1,1951 |
I have been married once to 4 different men. Now don't misread this. He was the same guy - same name, however when I married him he was employed as a printer. Two years later God called him to be a Pastor. Later he was ordained an Elder and lastly, a Missionary to Haiti. I met this wonderful man where he was employed at Church World Service Center. Yes, I thought he was absolutely perfect! And I am certain he thought the same of me!
Every other weekend he would hitchhike (he didn't have a car) 100 miles to my home in Pennsylvania to see me. We did not like seeing one another so infrequently so eventually he moved to a city closer by. We were married after only 6 months of knowing one another, so we had a lot to learn. We both soon realized neither one of us was "perfect", however , we were perfect for each other, but we had a lot to learn.
Some of the things I learned were learned through experience, others by observing friends, and still others, by reading some good authors. And yes, if I could do it over again, I would marry the same guy in a heartbeat, but I certainly would do some things differently.
Hopefully a few of what I learned will be helpful to you:
1. A successful Christian marriage must flow from our belief in God. Our confidence and trust must be in Him with deep roots in God's Word.
2. Love your husband and children unconditionally!
3. Be self controlled.
4. Have a quiet and gentle spirit.
5. Stay pure. If you feel you are drifting apart make every effort to get back the closeness you once felt. DO NOT turn to another man for comfort and to meet your needs. Find counsel with your Pastor, his wife, a Christian counselor or an older woman.
6. Manage your home, however, take time to play with and enjoy your children and your husband.
( hint: Even if dinner is not ready when he gets home from work, at least have the table set so he will know it is on the way.)
7. Sit at the table and have dinner as a family. Not in front of the TV. Talk about how each family member's day went. Cell phones at meals are NOT allowed at meals whether eating at home or out. We did not have to deal with this since there were no cell phones when our children were growing up, however, I feel Very strongly about this.
8. Be submissive and kind to your husband. Humility is required for submissiveness. Every morning ask yourself what you can do today to make your husband happy.
9. Set aside time for daily family devotions. We did ours around the table after dinner the evening.
10. Praise and encourage your husband and children. The more I Died to self the more life I could give to my family.
Well, my dear young wife, this should keep you quite busy. These thoughts are not in any specific order. I just typed as God brought them to my mind.
One last and most important thought:
CHERISH EVERY DAY YOU HAVE TOGETHER. LIFE IS SHORT.
May God Bless your marriage Abundantly,
Evelyn
P.S. Another thought. I took it for granted but I dare not do that. Make certain YOU and YOUR FAMILY attend church. Take your kids! Don't send them!
Evelyn Dick is an "extended family" member of LifeGate Church.
