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Marriage & Wedding Related
Marriage
What do women really want to hear men say? The following list may seem obvious, but
the authors of "Why Men Don't Get Enough Sex and Women Don't Get Enough
Love" insist men don't say the obvious often enough:
* "Put on your best dress. I'm taking you out for a surprise
evening."
* "Let's take a walk together. Just
the two of us."
* "You are always so thoughtful
(sensitive, caring)."
* "I love your eyes (legs,
ears)."
* "You're the best wife a man could
hope for. You're my best
friend."
* "When I think about you I get a
warm feeling all over."
* "I'm taking your car in today for
new tires because I love you and I want you to be safe."
* "I'm going to run an errand - is
there something I can get for you while I'm out?"
* "It's just a little something I
brought you to say I love you."
Marriage
Although we usually think of a marriage triangle as a
dangerous situation, there is one sense in which a third person could create
the right triangle.
Viola Walden tells the story of a
newly married couple riding a train on their honeymoon. A silver-haired man
leaned across the aisle and asked, "Is there a third party going with you
on your honeymoon?" The couple
looked at him strangely; then he added, "When Sarah and I were married, we
invited Jesus to our marriage. One of the first things we did in our new home
was to kneel and ask Jesus to make our marriage a love triangle - Sarah,
myself, and Jesus. And all three of
us have been in love with each other for all 50 years of our married
life."
Marriage
Marriage is like a violin;
it doesn’t work without the strings. And when the music stops, the strings are
still attached.
Marriage
Even if marriages are made
in heaven, humans have to be responsible for their maintenance.
Marriage
If a man has enough horse
sense to treat his wife like a thoroughbred, she’ll never turn into an old nag.
Marriage
Marriage is like flies on a
screen door. Those on the outside want to get in, but some of those already
inside want to get out.
Marriage
Marriage is not finding the
person with whom you can live, but finding that person with whom you cannot
live without.—Howard Hendricks
Marriage
Carl Sandburg’s daughter
Helga wrote of her parents: “There were never loud arguments back and forth in
our house. My father raged and roared, and often. But it was one-way. Mother
coaxed him out of it. Once when he was very old, I saw him pull at a door that
was stuck. He rattled the handle and shouted. My mother, a small woman, looked
up at him and patted his chest, ‘What a fine strong voice!’ she said. Disarmed,
he stood there in love. It was a thread established early and woven through
their life.
Marriage
A little girl had just
heard the story Snow White for the first time. So full of enthusiasm
that she could hardly contain herself, she retold the fairy tale to her mother.
After telling about how Prince Charming had arrived on his beautiful white
horse and kissed Snow White back to life, she asked her mother, “And do you
know what happened then?”
“Yes,”
said her mom, “they lived happily ever after.”
“No,”
responded Suzie, with a frown, “they got married.”
With
childlike innocence, the little girl had spoken a partial truth without
realizing it. For you see, getting married and living happily ever after are
not necessarily synonymous.
Adjustment to Marriage
A cynic once observed: “All
marriages are happy. It’s the living together afterward that causes all the
trouble.”
Adjustment to marriage
Marriage has been described
as the relationship of “two reasonable human beings who have agreed to abide by
each other’s intolerabilities.”
Adjustment to Marriage
Marriage is like taking an
airplane to Florida for a relaxing vacation in January, and when you get off
the plane you find you’re in the Swiss Alps. There’s cold and snow instead of
swimming and sunshine.
Well,
after you buy winter clothes and learn how to ski, and learn how to talk in a
new foreign language, I guess you can have just as good a vacation in the Swiss
Alps as you can in
Adjustment to Marriage
Unhappy spouse to marriage
counselor:
When
I got married
I
was looking for an ideal.
Then
it became an ordeal.
Now
I want a new deal.
Adjustment to Marriage
Someone has likened
adjustment to marriage to two porcupines who lived in Alaska. When the deep and
heavy snows came, they felt the cold and began to draw close together. However,
when they drew close they began to stick one another with their quills. But
when they drew apart they felt the cold once again. To keep warm they had to
learn how to adjust to one another-very carefully.
Adjustment to Marriage
”For best result, follow
instructions of maker.” So advised a brochure accompanying a bottle of a common
cold remedy. If such advice is good for the relief of a simple physical
ailment, how much more it is needed for the relief of sick marriage
relationships! God, the Author of marriage, has given us clear instructions in
the Bible.
Adjustment to Marriage
All of us have seen two
rivers flowing smoothly and quietly along until they meet and join to form one
new river. When this happens they clash and hurl themselves at one another.
However, as the newly formed river flows downstream, it gradually quiets down
and flows smoothly again. And now it is broader and more majestic and has more
power. So it is in a marriage: the forming of a new union may be tumultuous-but,
when achieved, the result is far greater than either alone.
Adjustment to Marriage
Some time ago, the Saturday
Evening Post ran a humorous article that traced the tendency for marriage
partners to drift from a height of bliss into the humdrum of routine attitudes.
Called “The Seven Ages of the Married Cold,” the article likens the state of
the marriage to the reaction of a husband to his wife’s colds during seven
years of marriage.
The
first year: “Sugar dumpling, I’m worried about my baby girl. You’ve got a bad
sniffle and there’s no telling about these things with all this strep around.
I’m putting you in the hospital this afternoon for a general checkup and a good
rest. I know the food’s lousy, but I’ll bring your meals in from Rossini’s.
I’ve already got it arranged with the floor superintendent.”
The
second year: “Listen darling, I don’t like the sound of that cough and I’ve
called Doc Miller to rush over here. Now you go to bed like a good girl,
please? Just for Papa.”
The
third year: “Maybe you’d better lie down, honey; nothing like a little rest
when you feel punk. I’ll bring you something to eat. Have we got any soup?”
The
fourth year: “Look, dear, be sensible. After you feed the kids and get the
dishes washed, you’d better hit the sack.”
The
fifth year: “Why don’t you get yourself a couple of aspirin?”
The
sixth year: “If you’d just gargle or something, instead of sitting around
barking like a seal!”
The
seventh year: “For Pete’s sake, stop sneezing! Whatcha trying to do, gimme
pneumonia?”
Adjustment to Marriage
People in our nation spend
more time preparing to get their driver’s license than they do preparing for
marriage or parenting.
Commitment in Marriage
With the rising divorce
rate and the trend toward total truthfulness these days, it is almost as though
the marriage vows are being changed from “till death do us part” to “till
something better comes along.”
Commitment in Marriage
The ties of a durable
marriage are not like the pretty silken ribbons attached to wedding presents.
Instead, they must be forged like steel in the heat of daily life and the
pressures of crisis in order to form a union that cannot be severed.
Commitment in Marriage
The comic strip said a lot
about the world’s view of marriage:
One
character said, “You know, it’s odd-but now that I’m actually engaged I’m
starting to feel nervous about getting married!”
The
other character replied, “I know what you’re thinking. It’s only natural to be
nervous! Marriage is a big commitment. Seven or eight years can be a long
time!”
Commitment in Marriage
A good many years ago, I
knew a workingman in the north of England whose wife, soon after her marriage,
drifted in vicious ways, and went rapidly form bad to worse. He came home one
Sunday evening to find, as he had found a dozen times before, that she had gone
on a new debauch. He knew in what condition she would return after two or three
days of a nameless life. He sat down in the cheerless house to look the truth
in the face and to find what he must do. The worst had happened too often to
leave him much hope for amendment, and he saw in part what might be in store
for him. He made his choice to hold by his wife to the end and to keep a home
for her who would not make one for him. Now that a new and terrible meaning had
passed into the words “for better or for worse,” he reaffirmed his marriage
vow.
Later,
when someone who knew them both intimately ventured to commiserate with him, he
answered, “Not a word! She is my wife! I loved her when she was a girl in our
village and I shall love her as long as there is breath in my body.” She did
not mend, and died in his house after some years in a shameful condition, with
his hands spread over her in pity and prayer to the last.—W.R. Maltby
Adjustment in Marriage
There is a scientific law
called the Second Law of Thermodynamics. This law states that any closed system
left to itself tends toward greater randomness; that is, it breaks down. It
takes an ordered input of energy to keep anything together.
This
is readily seen with a house. Any homeowner knows that to maintain a house, one
must daily, monthly, and yearly invest time and energy to keep the house
enjoyable to live in. If no energy is expended on the house, it eventually
comes to the point of needing a complete overhaul, or else it is knocked down.
Although
it is a law designed to describe material systems, the Second Law of
Thermodynamics seems to describe other systems also. For example, consider the
marriage relationship. It must have a daily, monthly, and yearly investment of
time and energy so that it is enjoyable to live in. If no energy is expended,
eventually the relationship needs a complete overhaul, or else it is knocked
down.
It
is a wise couple who build into their marriage continually-rather than waiting
passively for a complete overhaul in the counselor’s office or a knockdown in
the courtroom.
Communication in Marriage
Thomas Carlyle paid many
pathetic postmortem tributes to his deceased wife, whom he sometimes neglected
in life. In his diary there is what has been called the saddest sentence in
English literature. Carlyle wrote: “Oh, that I had you yet for five minutes by
my side that I might tell you all.”
Cost of Marriage
It is often said that two
can live as cheaply as one. That’s true-as long as one doesn’t eat and the
other goes naked.
Role of Wife in Marriage
Charles Swindoll tells of
being married ten years before he became aware of the value of being grateful
for the differences between his wife and himself. He was often irritated that
she didn’t view things exactly as he did. She wasn’t argumentative, only
expressive of her honest feelings. But he took this as a lack of submission and
told her so. Time and time again they locked horns until finally God showed him
from the Genesis 2:18~25 passage that his wife was different because God had
made her different, and she was more valuable to him because of those
differences. She was not designed to be his echo but to be his counterpart, a
necessary and needed individual to help him become all God wanted him to be.
Obligations
of Marriage
The pastor of a big city church ran an ad for a
caretaker-housekeeper. The next
day, a well-dressed young man appeared at the pastor's door. But before he could say more than,
"Hello, I came to see about...," the pastor began questioning him.
"Can you sweep, make beds,
shovel walks, run errands, fix meals, balance a checkbook, and baby-sit?"
the churchman asked?
"Whoa," the young man
said, "I only came to see about getting married, but if it's that much
work, I'm not interested." --Virginia Myers, In Saturday Evening Post,
April, 1990
Virgins
In a world searching for the latest and best ways to have
sex, virginity has become an embarrassment. This is to be expected in a society that
preaches pleasure, but not in the church where virtue is assumed but not
taught. After all, people reason,
what is there to write about abstaining?
Sex is seen as a fulfillment; virginity, as a vacuum. But it had better be more than that,
especially for us single women who outnumber marriageable men by 7.3 million in
the
Marriage
Marriage is like a violin; it doesn’t
work without the strings. And when the music stops, the strings are still
attached. ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical
Preaching》
Marriage
Although
we usually think of a marriage triangle as a dangerous situation, there is one
sense in which a third person could create the right triangle.
Viola
Walden tells the story of a newly married couple riding a train on their
honeymoon. A silver-haired man leaned across the aisle and asked, "Is
there a third party going with you on your honeymoon?" The couple looked at him strangely; then
he added, "When Sarah and I were married, we invited Jesus to our
marriage. One of the first things we did in our new home was to kneel and ask
Jesus to make our marriage a love triangle - Sarah, myself, and Jesus. And all three of us have been in love
with each other for all 50 years of our married life." ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations
for Biblical Preaching》
Adjustment to Marriage
Marriage is like taking an airplane to
Florida for a relaxing vacation in January, and when you get off the plane you
find you’re in the Swiss Alps. There’s cold and snow instead of swimming and
sunshine.
Well, after you buy winter clothes and
learn how to ski, and learn how to talk in a new foreign language, I guess you
can have just as good a vacation in the Swiss Alps as you can in Florida. But
it is a surprise when you get off that honeymoon airplane and find that
everything is far different from what you expected. ──
Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical Preaching》
Adjustment to Marriage
”For best result, follow instructions
of maker.” So advised a brochure accompanying a bottle of a common cold remedy.
If such advice is good for the relief of a simple physical ailment, how much
more it is needed for the relief of sick marriage relationships! God, the
Author of marriage, has given us clear instructions in the Bible. ──
Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical Preaching》
Adjustment to Marriage
All of us have seen two rivers flowing
smoothly and quietly along until they meet and join to form one new river. When
this happens they clash and hurl themselves at one another. However, as the
newly formed river flows downstream, it gradually quiets down and flows
smoothly again. And now it is broader and more majestic and has more power. So
it is in a marriage: the forming of a new union may be tumultuous-but, when
achieved, the result is far greater than either alone. ──
Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical Preaching》
Commitment in Marriage
The ties of a durable marriage are not
like the pretty silken ribbons attached to wedding presents. Instead, they must
be forged like steel in the heat of daily life and the pressures of crisis in
order to form a union that cannot be severed. ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations
for Biblical Preaching》
Obligations
of Marriage
The
pastor of a big city church ran an ad for a caretaker-housekeeper. The next day, a well-dressed young man
appeared at the pastor's door. But
before he could say more than, "Hello, I came to see about...," the
pastor began questioning him.
"Can
you sweep, make beds, shovel walks, run errands, fix meals, balance a
checkbook, and baby-sit?" the churchman asked?
"Whoa,"
the young man said, "I only came to see about getting married, but if it's
that much work, I'm not interested." -- Virginia Myers, In Saturday
Evening Post, April, 1990
Marriage
Even if marriages are made in heaven,
humans have to be responsible for their maintenance. ──
Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical Preaching》
Marriage
What
do women really want to hear men say?
The following list may seem obvious, but the authors of "Why Men
Don't Get Enough Sex and Women Don't Get Enough Love" insist men don't say
the obvious often enough:
* "Put on your best dress. I'm taking you out for a surprise
evening."
* "Let's take a walk together. Just
the two of us."
* "You are always so thoughtful
(sensitive, caring)."
* "I love your eyes (legs,
ears)."
* "You're the best wife a man could
hope for. You're my best
friend."
* "When I think about you I get a
warm feeling all over."
* "I'm taking your car in today for
new tires because I love you and I want you to be safe."
* "I'm going to run an errand - is
there something I can get for you while I'm out?"
* "It's just a little something I
brought you to say I love you."
── Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical
Preaching》
Adjustment to marriage
Marriage has been described as the
relationship of “two reasonable human beings who have agreed to abide by each
other’s intolerabilities.” ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations
for Biblical Preaching》
Adjustment to Marriage
People in our nation spend more time
preparing to get their driver’s license than they do preparing for marriage or
parenting. ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical
Preaching》
Commitment in Marriage
With the rising divorce rate and the
trend toward total truthfulness these days, it is almost as though the marriage
vows are being changed from “till death do us part” to “till something better
comes along.” ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical
Preaching》