The Married Life

Eight months.

253 days.

6,072 hours.

Since I said I do to the man I love. People often ask me how the married life is and I tend to come up with a generic answer for them. It seems that my tongue can't form the words that my heart feels.

I say things like...

‘It's the same as when we were dating’

‘All we did was sign a piece of paper, where's the difference’

‘It's great’

‘I love it’

Why does my tongue say these but my heart screams out something so contrary to these utterances?

Marriage is so much more than what we had while dating. It isn't only a legal document; it is more than what our world views it as today.

“Marriage should be honored by all…” Hebrews 13:4

Our world doesn’t honor marriage anymore. Our culture has dimmed it down to nothing more than a legal document that can be voided out by another legal document when the going gets tough.

Marriage is two becoming one. It is…

"...the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

The man said,

“This is now bone of my bones
    and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called ‘woman,’
    for she was taken out of man.”

 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.” Genesis 2:21-24

I became a part of my husband. He became a part of me. We are one flesh and we are united together under the eyes of God. “So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” Matthew 19:6

The last eight months has been more than a piece of paper signed; it has altered my life and my being. The act of saying I do has made me a completely new person combined with my husband. We have become one. All my faults and my weaknesses are only diminished in the sight of my husband and our love for each other because…

 ^“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her  to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word,  and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.  In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.  After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church—for we are members of his body.  “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”  This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.” Ephesians 5:25-32

Our marriage and all marriages are a representation of Christ and his bridegroom the Church. 

This makes my heart sing and jump and tumble and roll with joy! The thought of this is so beautiful. 

So next time I get asked the question of ‘how is the married life’ I’ll have to sit down with a cup of coffee and explain the beautiful intricacies of my marriage and the act of marriage because it is so much more than a simple document.