Proverbs 5:18

Proverbs 5:18 says, "Delight in the wife of your youth". It also says to, um... enjoy other things about her, but I'll let you read that for yourself.

Having just finished our anniversary weekend, I was most struck by how much Tami and I still enjoy being together. We are best friends and have an absolute blast when it's just the two of us. We don't do fancy, high falootin' things. That's not who we are. We're simple folk. We love going to a local restaurant (usually Buffalo Wild Wings) to eat appetizers and play the interactive trivia game. We enjoy competing against each other as well as other restaurant patrons. The trivia game doesn't cost anything and eating a few appetizers doesn't break the bank either. Our "romantic" anniversary dinner was at Red Robin. We love the place and if you've ever been there it's about as noisy as a restaurant can get. Not exactly linen tablecloths, candlelight and violin music :-) Gourmet burgers and fries is our choice. We just have so much fun together. I can't imagine spending my life with anyone else. God definitely knew what He was doing when He put us together.

Getting back to Proverbs 5:18. It basically says a man is to be satisfied with the wife of his youth and delight in HER. He shouldn't be out looking for "greener pastures". In this time of everybody doing what feels good and only staying married as long as your current spouse makes you happy, it becomes even more important to adhere to Proverbs 5:18. These days adultery is so sickeningly prevalent. Running around and carousing seems to be the rule rather than the exception. I have no statistics to support this, but I would guess the divorce rate in the U.S. is probably at an all-time high. How sad is that?

This past weekend, Tami and I discussed how wonderful our marriage is. We agreed that it just keeps getting better and better. But there's a reason for that... we've worked at it. Marriage is very hard work, but it's also very rewarding. We both acknowledged there have been rough spots along the way. Some very, very rough spots. But neither of us ever considered giving up. We have always worked things out and after 21 years, those rough patches are very few and very far between. There's a reason we took those wedding vows... they work! To have and to hold, to love honor and cherish, in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, for richer and poorer as long you both shall live? WE DO!