If
you have driven a car very long, you realize that cars have important gauges on
the dashboard that are to be watched and not ignored. I was praying about our
Marriage Series and it came to me that there are also gauges to watch in our
marriage. Have you thought about what the gauges are indicating in your
marriage?
Several
years ago, the Saturday Evening Post published an article entitled “The Seven
Ages of the Married Cold.” It revealed the reaction of a husband to his wife’s
colds during their first seven years of marriage. It went something like this:
· The first year:
“Sugar dumpling, I’m really worried about my baby girl. You’ve got a bad
sniffle, and there’s no telling about these things with all this strep throat
going around. I’m putting you in the hospital this afternoon for a general
checkup and a good rest. I know the food’s lousy, but I’ll be bringing your
meals in from Rosini’s. I’ve already got it all arranged with the floor
superintendent.”
· The second year:
“Listen, darling, I don’t like the sound of that cough. I called Doc Miller and
asked him to rush over here. Now you go to bed like a good girl, please? Just
for Papa.”
· The third year:
“Maybe you’d better lie down, honey: nothing like a little rest when you feel
lousy. I’ll bring you something to eat. Have you got any canned soup?”
· The fourth year:
“Now look, dear, be sensible. After you’ve fed the kids, washed the dishes and
finished the floor, you’d better lie down.”
· The fifth year:
“Why don’t you take a couple of aspirin?”
· The sixth year:
“I wish you’d just gargle or something, instead of sitting around all evening
barking like a seal!”
· The seventh year:
“For Pete’s sake, stop sneezing! Are you trying to give me pneumonia?”This
humorous story describes the decline of marriage as seen through the common
cold… A funny look at a not-so- funny reality.
I
have been married 32 years, and while I have never accused Vonnell of barking
like a seal, I have seen changes in our marriage, and not all of them for the
good. Today I want to talk about being proactive in keeping the spark in our
marriages.
Let’s
look at the AMP Gauge. It’s important to know if the right electricity is
running through your car. More importantly is if it’s still in the marriage.
When you first got married, there was plenty of electricity in the
relationship. But as we journey through the uncharted waters of marriage, we
tend to forget the things we did with each other before we got married. Do you remember how sweetly you asked how she was doing each day? And how long it took to get ready for a date? You got all dressed up, shaved, brushed your teeth, put on cologne, and couldn’t wait to share the night together. Has the fire gone out? No one likes to get in a vehicle with a dead battery.
There are things you can do to get the fire back. Guys, how about washing and vacuuming her car this week? Get the oil changed and fill up the tank instead of having her do it. Ladies, make his favorite dish and surprise him by being all dressed up when he comes home from work. Are you watching your AMP gauge? Are you maintaining the electricity in the marriage?
Remember, if the battery goes dead in your car, you don’t buy a new car; instead, you replace the battery or get it recharged. If the amp is reading low, begin doing things that will ignite a new fire in your marriage.
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