Leaving a legacy of a faithful marriage.

        Came across an inspiring front-page article in our local newspaper a few weeks ago.  Here is a picture of the front page…

What a great celebration of marriage faithfulness.  What a great legacy that Edward and Ruth Bostrom passed onto their kids and grandkids, and great-grandkids, and great-great grandkids!  This article gave me pause to reflect on what my marriage right now is teaching my kids for when they get married.  I have a lot of questions and a few answers.

       The questions:    

-Are Heidi and I showing our kids the beauty of marriage?

-Are Heidi and I showing our kids the joy of marriage?

-Are Heidi and I showing our kids the challenges and struggles of marriage?

-Are Heidi and I showing our kids how to keep God at the center of the marriage?

-Are Heidi and I showing our kids the hard-work and sacrifice that both husband and wife need to make in order for marriage to work?    

-Are Heidi and I showing our kids that marriage is to be a picture of God's extravagant love for the church?                                      

-Are Heidi and I showing our kids that marriage was created and designed by God?

-Are Heidi and I showing our kids the importance of forgiveness in marriage?

-Am I showing my sons what it means to love and serve their future wife in the way Christ loves and serves the church?

-Am I showing my daughters a picture of a man who is worth being married to?  One who loves God, one who loves and serves his wife, one who takes initiative in leading the family towards God

The Answers

-God must remain the center of our marriage if any of the above questions will be answered with a positive reply.

-Our marriage and what makes it work over the long-haul cannot remain a mystery.  Our kids need to not just know that it worked, they need to know what made it work.  As they get older Heidi and I need to talk to them a lot about our marriage!  The good and the bad.  The joys and the struggles.  How to ask for forgiveness, and how to grant forgiveness.  How to love when the "feelings" of love are not present, and much more.

 -I need to begin praying now for the future spouses of my kids, for their future marriage.  I need to be praying that as they grow up they make choices that will increase the likelihood of a faithful marriage.  I need to pray.  I need to be praying a lot.

-Heidi and I need to continue to become more like Jesus.  We desperately need Jesus to continue to change us.  To make us more loving.  To make us more selfless.  To make us kinder.  To make us more patient.  To make us more gracious.  We need Jesus to continue to change us into people who can continue to give a better and better picture of marriage to our kids who are watching everyday.

There is no guarantee that my kids will get married.  There is no guarantee that they will never get divorced.  There is no guarantee that their life or the life of their spouse will not end long before they could celebrate 50 years of marriage.  I get that, but I want my kids to experience marriage as God has created it and desires for it to be.  I want them to experience marriage as a beautiful picture of God's unending love for the church.  I want them to experience a marriage that as a result helps both them and their spouse to be more like Jesus.  If you are married and you have kids, regardless of their age, you are teaching them about marriage.  They are watching us.  They are listening?  They are paying attention.  I was teaching my kids about marriage when I left home for work today, and when I get home from work I will be teaching again.  I want to leave a legacy of marriage for my kids!  How about you?