A furrow-faced old farmer and his wife were leaning against the fence of their pig pen when the old woman wistfully recalled that the next week would mark their golden wedding anniversary.
"Let's have a party, Ethel,” the farmer suggested. "We’ll kill a pig and roast it."
The soft-spoken old woman hesitated before answering, "A party would be nice, Homer, but I don't see why the pig should have to suffer for something that happened fifty years ago."
We like to joke about marriage. That could be why so many people are avoiding it these days. Most people, however, are still irresistibly drawn to it. Even those who have felt the sting of a divorce return to the altar to try again. Something in us longs for love – for love that lasts. We’d love to be in love forever. Is it possible?
Absolutely! I have celebrated nearly 40 wedding anniversaries with my wife. Those 40 years of marriage may not make me an expert. Once I survived wearing a cumber bun during the ceremony, the rest has been surprisingly easy for me. But my wife is well qualified to speak as an authority. She’s had to endure me for almost half a century.
How did she do it? What’s her secret to making a marriage last even when her husband is more toad than Prince Charming?
I actually asked Becky while we were out for an anniversary dinner once. Her response? “Just get over it!”
I wasn’t quite sure what she meant by that, but it didn’t sound too flattering to me. So, I asked for clarification.
“Just get over it if marriage isn’t perfect,” she said. “Some people want to walk away the first time something doesn’t go exactly the way they would like. No spouse, and no marriage, is perfect. Just get over it!”
That makes sense. (I’ve learned that agreeing with my wife makes my marriage go better!) It’s a matter of being more committed to the marriage than to my own personal wants and needs. It’s what real love is. Becky was just saying what God himself said about true love: It “always perseveres. Love never fails (1 Corinthians 13:7-8).
Always. Forever. That requires a lot of “Just get over it” because people are far from perfect. But it’s the only way to make a relationship last.
Pretty smart lady, my wife – even if she did marry me.
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