15 Things {Day Thirteen}

Happy Anniversary to my brother Eric and his wife,  Megan!
~July 31, 2004~

Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

This phrase is open to opinion.  If you don't believe me, just Google it.  :-)  Others can debate it all they want, but it's definitely true for me!  The infrequent separations that Greg and I do experience are a huge reminder to me that our lives have really grown into one.  When I'm away from my husband it feels like half of me is missing. 

Tonight is my second night away this week, and I am looking forward to the huge embrace I will receive when we arrive home tomorrow - if the girls actually let me have a minute with him - they're missing daddy!  As much as what I'm doing is important, home is tugging at me.

Unfortunately for some, absence makes the heart to wander.

Lots of couples are running in different directions.  Some are military families.  Others are traveling for work.  There are a variety of reasons (some legitimate, others not so much), and if either spouse is lax in their commitment...boy, can the devil use that to perform his dirty work! 

I'm gonna go out on a limb here by saying that I don't think that it's God's best for us to, on a regular basis, be separated from our spouse.  Even if we are a Christian.  Too many of us set ourselves up for marital failure by simply ignoring the safeguards that hold families together.  I know.  Sounds radical.  But radical love and radical commitment is what it's gonna take to get us through these days.  And those may only be possible by radical decisions.

I believe people are selling this marriage thing far short of its actual value.  There are too few happy endings in our generation. And more are even avoiding the whole commitment thing altogether.   

Let's make a commitment to each other, shall we?  Let's determine to do whatever it takes to remain commited to our marriage.  If we walk beside our husbands throughout the days of our lives, they will be more inclined to grow toward us and less tempted to look for substitutes for our companionship. 

As I tuck into bed shortly, there will be an awkward emptiness next to me.  It draws me toward home, cause that's where I left the best part of myself.

To keep the fire burning brightly there's one easy rule: Keep the two logs together, near enough to keep each other warm and far enough apart - about a finger's breadth - for breathing room. Good fire, good marriage, same rule.
 ~Marnie Reed Crowell