Marriage Monday: Now and Always

Most who are married or who have attended a wedding have heard those well-known words:

…for better or worse
for richer or poorer
in sickness and health…

We cover the extremes of life in those wedding vows. We commit to stick beside each other in the best and worst of times. But sometimes we forget about now.

Now can be the hardest time to honor, love, and cherish our spouses. Now is tough. Not fitting into either the best or the worst, now is often mundane. It is ordinary. Nothing exciting is happening to keep us motivated. Nothing with extreme challenge is making us stronger.

It is just ordinary life.

Now is also not the same as then. Then I was a young, blushing bride. Then I will have hopefully reached some new measure of success. But now? Now I am caught up in being a wife, mother, homeschooler, and employee. Now I am a good twenty pounds overweight and struggling with discipline. Now lacks the newness of sixteen years ago when our relationship was just blossoming. Now lacks the mysterious wonderment of what our future might become.

Now is just ordinary.

But he loves me right now. Oh what a gift!

Amazingly, it gets even better!

Now is not just when he loves me. It is also when he tells me he will love me always. He sees me in the mundanity of life and says that he will love me even if nothing ever changes. He will love me always.

The extremes of life, whether they be successes or failures, do challenge marriage with those make-or-break moments. But the daily, ordinary, boring mundanity of life can subtly chip away pieces of even a strong relationship. Or, they can offer us the opportunity to reaffirm the solidarity of our love, for now and for always.

May we shower love upon our spouses this week, even in the ordinary of now. And in doing so, may we find ways to offer the assurance of always.