God First
I know I tend to write quite a bit about my love life, but I'm not sorry! I'm passionate about it and about relationships in general, so I keep writing. I have been thinking about how those in romantic relationships, whether it be dating, engagement, or marriage, lean on each other a lot. I'm not saying that's a bad thing; in fact, that's a huge part of relationships. You need to be there for each other. What I have noticed in my own life, though, is the fact that I can't hold Jordan up every time he's down just like he can't do it for me every time. We simply aren't strong enough.
A Christian relationship consists of three entities: one man, one woman, and God. As the Bible says about these relationships, "a cord of three strands is not easily broken."
Jordan and I are smack in the middle of the most stressful semesters either of us have had, and the strain of school, wedding planning, work, as well as the basic responsibility of living can be really overwhelming sometimes! What both of us usually do (and this is a good thing) is go to each other for comfort and direction. I've called him crying more than once because I've had a hard day and am convinced that I'll fail nursing school. He always knows what to say to calm me down and make me smile.
But sometimes his remedies doesn't work. Likewise, there are days when Jordan has been dealt a rough hand, and the things I say or do that normally lift his spirits don't work. These are the days we're reminded that we're in a threesome. It's not just the two of us.
God joins a husband and a wife together. He's the glue that makes man and woman one flesh. This means that only by relying on God first can they rely on each other. God first.
Humans have this little problem of thinking that sometimes we're smarter than God or that we can do things without Him, only asking Him for help after we messed something up. The problem with that idea in marriage (which can also be applied to relationships in general, to a degree) is that God joined the husband and wife in the first place. Without Him, there would be no relationship!
I've got a retractable name badge clip for school that I dropped once, and it broke at the seam. Until that point, it never occurred to me that the clip, although stuck together really tightly, wasn't glued. I put it back together without any adhesive and it lasted awhile before I dropped it again and, lo and behold, it broke at the seam again. It took another one or two instances of my badge clip ending up in pieces on the classroom floor for me to finally take the Super Glue to it and actually fix it. It hasn't broken since.
This analogy is an illustration of how in a relationship (specifically marriage), a man and woman can certainly lean only on each other and it absolutely can be a wonderful, loving, and productive relationship. However, some things can put a strain on one or both of them that they can't withstand on their own. They need a Super Glue to rely on. They need the third strand. Because of my clip's new reliance on the Super Glue, it's stronger than ever, and trust me, the two sides aren't letting go of each other anytime soon.
That's how it is in a relationship with God at the center. Whenever either of us are having a bad day, going to God in prayer or the Sacraments allows me to clear my head. It helps me to remember that I can't rely only on my own strength or wisdom, and I can't rely solely on Jordan's either. We need to lean on God first, the One holding us together and the One who brought us together in the first place in order to have the capacity to give and receive the support we give to each other. Life puts strain and stress on marriages; there is no way around it. When a husband and wife rely on each other by leaning on God first, though, nothing can break them apart.
A Christian relationship consists of three entities: one man, one woman, and God. As the Bible says about these relationships, "a cord of three strands is not easily broken."
Jordan and I are smack in the middle of the most stressful semesters either of us have had, and the strain of school, wedding planning, work, as well as the basic responsibility of living can be really overwhelming sometimes! What both of us usually do (and this is a good thing) is go to each other for comfort and direction. I've called him crying more than once because I've had a hard day and am convinced that I'll fail nursing school. He always knows what to say to calm me down and make me smile.
But sometimes his remedies doesn't work. Likewise, there are days when Jordan has been dealt a rough hand, and the things I say or do that normally lift his spirits don't work. These are the days we're reminded that we're in a threesome. It's not just the two of us.
God joins a husband and a wife together. He's the glue that makes man and woman one flesh. This means that only by relying on God first can they rely on each other. God first.
Humans have this little problem of thinking that sometimes we're smarter than God or that we can do things without Him, only asking Him for help after we messed something up. The problem with that idea in marriage (which can also be applied to relationships in general, to a degree) is that God joined the husband and wife in the first place. Without Him, there would be no relationship!
I've got a retractable name badge clip for school that I dropped once, and it broke at the seam. Until that point, it never occurred to me that the clip, although stuck together really tightly, wasn't glued. I put it back together without any adhesive and it lasted awhile before I dropped it again and, lo and behold, it broke at the seam again. It took another one or two instances of my badge clip ending up in pieces on the classroom floor for me to finally take the Super Glue to it and actually fix it. It hasn't broken since.
This analogy is an illustration of how in a relationship (specifically marriage), a man and woman can certainly lean only on each other and it absolutely can be a wonderful, loving, and productive relationship. However, some things can put a strain on one or both of them that they can't withstand on their own. They need a Super Glue to rely on. They need the third strand. Because of my clip's new reliance on the Super Glue, it's stronger than ever, and trust me, the two sides aren't letting go of each other anytime soon.
That's how it is in a relationship with God at the center. Whenever either of us are having a bad day, going to God in prayer or the Sacraments allows me to clear my head. It helps me to remember that I can't rely only on my own strength or wisdom, and I can't rely solely on Jordan's either. We need to lean on God first, the One holding us together and the One who brought us together in the first place in order to have the capacity to give and receive the support we give to each other. Life puts strain and stress on marriages; there is no way around it. When a husband and wife rely on each other by leaning on God first, though, nothing can break them apart.
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