Thursday, February 21, 2008
“Yet I hold this against you; You have forsaken your first love” (Revelation 2:4 NIV).
If you’re married, what do you do when you’ve lost that lovin’ feelin’? Maybe you truly adored your husband in the beginning, but now you can’t remember why. Maybe you honestly admired his finer qualities, but now you can’t remember what they were. Maybe you appreciated his wonderful attributes, but now take them for granted. What do you do now?
Here’s a statistic you might find interesting. According to an analysis of the National Survey of Families and Household, 86 percent of unhappily married people who stick it out find that, five years later, their marriages are happier. In fact, nearly 60 percent of those who rated their marriage as unhappy in the late 1980’s, and who stayed married, rated their same marriage “very happy” or “quite happy” when re-interviewed five years later ( Linda J. Waite and Maggie Gallagher, The Case for Marriage (New York: Doubleday, 2000) 148). In comparison, those who divorced and remarried divorced again at a rate of 60 percent (Judith Wallerstein and Julia A. Lewis, and Sandra Blakeslee, The Unexpected Legacy of Divorce, Hyperion, 2000) p295).
So, starting over may very well be the answer! As long as it’s with the same man.
In the book of Revelation in the Bible, God had this to say to the church at Ephesus. “Yet I hold this against you; You have forsaken your first love” (Revelation 2:4). Ephesus was one of the most loving churches in the New Testament and yet, somewhere along the way, they lost that initial thrill of knowing Christ. Their love for each other and for God had grown cold.
As I read God’s lament, I whispered a prayer. “Oh Lord, how many of us women have forgotten our first love. We’ve forgotten the thrill we felt when we first met our husbands: the spine tingling chills when he walked into a room, the heart skipping flutter when he called on the phone, the tender wooing when we opened a letter penned by his hand. Somewhere between taking out the garbage, paying the bills, running carpool, mowing the lawn, disciplining the kids, folding the laundry…somewhere among the mundane routine of life, we’ve lost the romance”.
How do we get it back? God gave the church two simple steps for the Bride of Christ to renew her passion for her Beloved, and I believe we can apply the same principles to renewing our passion for the man of our dreams.
Remember and Return
Remember what drew you to your husband in the first place? Remember how you tried to please him, capture his heart, and win his affection? That may have been fifty pounds and a full head of hair ago, but that young man who longed to be adored, admired, and appreciated still lives within his heart. He wants to know if he still “has what it takes.” Let him know that he does.
Everyone loves a love story. Tell your children the story of how you first met and fell in love. Remember special days such as your first date, your first kiss, or the day when you first realized he was the man you wanted to marry. On your anniversary, listen to a tape or watch a video of your wedding. Celebrate not only your wedding anniversary but also the day he asked you to marry him.
Now it’s Your Turn
If you have kids, tell them the story of how you met and fell in love with your husband at the dinner table tonight.
If you aren’t married, tell someone how you met Jesus Christ and gave your life to Him.
If you are married, write down what drew you to your husband initially.
If you are not married, write down what you long for in the man of your dreams.
Here’s a statistic you might find interesting. According to an analysis of the National Survey of Families and Household, 86 percent of unhappily married people who stick it out find that, five years later, their marriages are happier. In fact, nearly 60 percent of those who rated their marriage as unhappy in the late 1980’s, and who stayed married, rated their same marriage “very happy” or “quite happy” when re-interviewed five years later ( Linda J. Waite and Maggie Gallagher, The Case for Marriage (New York: Doubleday, 2000) 148). In comparison, those who divorced and remarried divorced again at a rate of 60 percent (Judith Wallerstein and Julia A. Lewis, and Sandra Blakeslee, The Unexpected Legacy of Divorce, Hyperion, 2000) p295).
So, starting over may very well be the answer! As long as it’s with the same man.
In the book of Revelation in the Bible, God had this to say to the church at Ephesus. “Yet I hold this against you; You have forsaken your first love” (Revelation 2:4). Ephesus was one of the most loving churches in the New Testament and yet, somewhere along the way, they lost that initial thrill of knowing Christ. Their love for each other and for God had grown cold.
As I read God’s lament, I whispered a prayer. “Oh Lord, how many of us women have forgotten our first love. We’ve forgotten the thrill we felt when we first met our husbands: the spine tingling chills when he walked into a room, the heart skipping flutter when he called on the phone, the tender wooing when we opened a letter penned by his hand. Somewhere between taking out the garbage, paying the bills, running carpool, mowing the lawn, disciplining the kids, folding the laundry…somewhere among the mundane routine of life, we’ve lost the romance”.
How do we get it back? God gave the church two simple steps for the Bride of Christ to renew her passion for her Beloved, and I believe we can apply the same principles to renewing our passion for the man of our dreams.
Remember and Return
Remember what drew you to your husband in the first place? Remember how you tried to please him, capture his heart, and win his affection? That may have been fifty pounds and a full head of hair ago, but that young man who longed to be adored, admired, and appreciated still lives within his heart. He wants to know if he still “has what it takes.” Let him know that he does.
Everyone loves a love story. Tell your children the story of how you first met and fell in love. Remember special days such as your first date, your first kiss, or the day when you first realized he was the man you wanted to marry. On your anniversary, listen to a tape or watch a video of your wedding. Celebrate not only your wedding anniversary but also the day he asked you to marry him.
Now it’s Your Turn
If you have kids, tell them the story of how you met and fell in love with your husband at the dinner table tonight.
If you aren’t married, tell someone how you met Jesus Christ and gave your life to Him.
If you are married, write down what drew you to your husband initially.
If you are not married, write down what you long for in the man of your dreams.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Back from Australia
I was in Sydney for about 10 days with Timothy for the Entech 2008 exhibition. Wow!!!! What an experience! Thank God that He saw us through!!! Timothy had to work through the night for many nights in his three weeks stay. He only came back like 5 or 6am in the morning, slept for 2 hours and then back to work :(
I had to work non-stop also, building the truss for the exhibition stand, setting the stand up, run here and there like an event construction worker :P .... very tiring!
During the exhibition days, we had to walk half an hour, up slope from hotel to exhibition centre, stand from 9am to 6pm, then back to hotel, walking another half an hour with really tired feet back to the hotel. Sometimes it gets so tiring that we even skipped dinner.... no appetite already! After the exhibition, it's tear down time!!! The same process all over again.
I'm sure you would understand how much we L-O-N-G to come home to Singapore and to our children!!! One thing good is that the whether was really cool, sometimes cold there. Not forgetting the beef is delicious too :P
But we miss local food cos it's always bread bread bread and more bread, if not meat meat and more meat!!! Haha
Even coming home was a small little adventure. Our flight was due to depart at 5pm Australia time but was delayed till 8pm. That means we stayed at the airport from 2.30pm till 8pm just to catch the flight back home. We ended up arriving on Sunday early morning instead of Saturday night. PHEW.... :)
I had to work non-stop also, building the truss for the exhibition stand, setting the stand up, run here and there like an event construction worker :P .... very tiring!
During the exhibition days, we had to walk half an hour, up slope from hotel to exhibition centre, stand from 9am to 6pm, then back to hotel, walking another half an hour with really tired feet back to the hotel. Sometimes it gets so tiring that we even skipped dinner.... no appetite already! After the exhibition, it's tear down time!!! The same process all over again.
I'm sure you would understand how much we L-O-N-G to come home to Singapore and to our children!!! One thing good is that the whether was really cool, sometimes cold there. Not forgetting the beef is delicious too :P
But we miss local food cos it's always bread bread bread and more bread, if not meat meat and more meat!!! Haha
Even coming home was a small little adventure. Our flight was due to depart at 5pm Australia time but was delayed till 8pm. That means we stayed at the airport from 2.30pm till 8pm just to catch the flight back home. We ended up arriving on Sunday early morning instead of Saturday night. PHEW.... :)
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