Title:  For the Life of Me

   The young preacher was shocked to hear the well-known evangelist utter the words, "I have spent some of the happiest moments of my life in the arms of another man's wife. Yes, I have spent some of the happiest moments of my life in the arms of another man's wife." Then, following a pause, the evangelist added, "That woman was my mother."

   "I've got to use that!" the young pastor thought to himself. A few weeks later, as he was speaking to a civic group, the phrase leapt into his mind and he exclaimed, "I have spent some of the happiest days of my life in the arms of another man's wife." Then, after another long pause, the young man muttered meekly, "But for the life of me I can't remember who she was."

See:  Prov 5:15-20; 1 Cor 6:18-20

Title:  Bush on Marriage

   Barbara Bush said she was told that because both she and her husband are Gemini's, "we probably should never have gotten married." She doesn't know what to do about it now after 43 years.

   Good for you, Barbara. So much for the merits of astrology!

See:  Isa 47:13

Title:  The Best Gift

   A beautiful blond senior shares: "When we date, we start giving gifts, like flowers or candy. When a couple becomes engaged, they give special things -- a diamond and very personal things. The most personal gift that I can ever give is myself. I have nothing more precious to give. When I marry, I want to give my husband the best that I have -- my whole self as completely as I can."

   -- Dr. Richard B. Wilke

See:  1 Cor 6:18-20; 1 Thess 4:3; Heb 13:4

Title: The Indirect Approach

   The indirect approach: We had been keeping company for months, and I knew that Sam was very fond of me. But he was so shy it seemed that he would never get up the courage to propose. Then his mother invited me for dinner. His whole family was present, including an aunt and uncle from out of town.

   The next day Sam asked what I thought of his aunt and uncle. I told him, "I like them very much."

   He said, "They like you very much, too. In fact, they asked me when we were getting married." He paused. "What shall I tell them?"

   -- Reader's Digest

See:  1 John 4:18

Title:  The Safest Sex

   The other day we heard about a conversation between a teenager and his grandfather. The young man said, "Gee Grandad, your generation didn't have all these social diseases. What did you wear to have safe sex?"

   The wise old gentleman replied, "A wedding ring."

See:  Prov 5:15-20; Heb 13:4

Title:  The Best Relationship Socially

   Dr. Nancy Moore Clatworthy, sociologist, has been doing research on "living together" for 10 years. When she began her research, the idea of living together before committing yourself to marriage made good sense to her. Now, after scientifically analyzing the results of hundreds of surveys filled out by couples who had lived together, she opposes living together in any form. Her answers make a powerfully Christian point: only a fully committed marriage relationship is really suited to working out the best possible relationship.

   -- Tim Stafford

See:  1 Cor 7:9; 1 Thess 4:3

Title:  Marriage is Ridiculous

   Goldie Hawn was the subject of an article in a recent issue of the Columbus Dispatch. The columnist wrote, "Goldie Hawn, pregnant with her third child, says she and her live-in lover, Kurt Russell, have no plans to tie the knot because 'marriage is ridiculous.'" Later in the article she is quoted as saying, "What are you investing in? Concepts. But concepts are broken with the snap of a finger. That's why I think marriage is ridiculous."

See:  Heb 13:4

Title: The Role of the Husband in Marriage

   BONN, Germany -- A German group of psychologists, physicians and insurance companies who cooperated on a research project, designed to find the secret to long life and success, made a surprising discovery. The secret? Kiss your wife each morning when you leave for work! The meticulous German researchers discovered that men who kiss their wives every morning have fewer automobile accidents on their way to work than men who omit the morning kiss. The good-morning kissers miss less work because of sickness and earn 20 to 30 percent more money than non-kissers. How do they explain their findings? According to West Germany's Dr. Arthur Szabo, "A husband who kisses his wife every morning begins the day with a positive attitude."

See:  1 Pet 3:7

Title:  A Good Life

   Matthew Henry writes: "Eve was made by God not out of His head to rule over Him, nor out of His feet to be trampled upon by Him, but out of His side to be equal with Him, under His arm to be protected, and near His heart to be loved."

See:  Gen 2:21-24; 1 Pet 3:7

Title:  Ten Commandments for Wives

   1. Honor thy own womanhood, that thy days may be long in the house which thy husband provideth for thee.

   2. Expect not thy husband to give thee as many luxuries as thy father hath given thee after many years of hard labor and economies.

   3. Forget not the virtue of good humor, for verily all that a man hath will he give for a woman's smile.

   4. Thou shalt not nag.

   5. Thou shalt coddle thy husband, for verily every man loveth to be fussed over.

   6. Remember that the frank approval of thy husband is worth more to thee than the sidelong glances of many strangers.

   7. Forget not the grace of cleanliness and good dressing.

   8. Permit no one to assure thee that thou art having a hard time of it; neither thy mother, nor thy sister, nor thy maiden aunt, nor any of thy kinfolk, for the judge will not hold her guiltless who letteth another disparage her husband.

   9. Keep thy home with all diligence, for out of it cometh the joys of thine old age.

  10. Commit thy ways unto the Lord thy God and thy children shall rise up and call thee blessed.

See:  Prov 31:28-29; 1 Tim 3:11

Title:  Counting Your Ribs

   Sometimes women are overly suspicious of their husbands. When Adam stayed out very late for a few nights, Eve became upset. "You're running around with other women," she charged.

   "You're being unreasonable," Adam responded. "You're the only woman on earth."

   The quarrel continued until Adam fell asleep, only to be awakened by someone poking him in the chest. It was Eve.

   "What do you think you're doing?" Adam demanded.

   "Counting your ribs," said Eve.

See:  Prov 27:4

Title:  Luck's Changed

   A grocer, while delivering orders in his station wagon, ran down and injured an old lady. The lady sued and was awarded an amount large enough to drive the man out of business. After difficult times he managed to accumulate enough to try again. But a few months after opening his doors he struck an old gentleman with his delivery truck. The gentleman sued and collected big damages, enough to ruin the merchant.

   On a peaceful Sunday the grocer was sitting in his living room when his little boy entered and called out, "Father, Father, Mother's been run over by a great big bus."

   The grocer's eyes filled with tears, and in a voice trembling with emotion he cried, "Thank the Lord, my luck's changed at last."

Title:  Love and Marriage

   Love does not consist in gazing at each other but in looking outward together in the same direction.

   -- Antoine De Saint-Exupery

See:  Col 3:14

Title:  Disagreements about Details

   It happened in the city of Detroit, Michigan. After applying for a marriage license, a man failed to reappear at the county clerk's office until 11 years later to claim the important document. When asked why he and his fiancee had waited so long to get married, he explained, "We had a few disagreements about details."

   Think of it! Letting years pass by just because of an unwillingness to yield on small points of difference! Foolish, you say? Yes, but how many believers waste many precious years by refusing to let the Lord Jesus arrange and govern the details of their lives!

See:  Prov 3:5-6

Title:  Openness

   Openness is essentially the willingness to grow, a distaste for ruts, eagerly standing on tiptoe for a better view of what tomorrow brings. A man once bought a new radio, brought it home, placed it on the refrigerator, plugged it in, turned it to WMS in Nashville (home of the Grand Ol' Opry), and then pulled all the knobs off! He had already tuned in all he ever wanted or expected to hear. Some marriages are "rutted" and rather dreary because either or both partners have yielded to the tyranny of the inevitable: "What has been will still be." Stay open to newness. Stay open to change.

See:  Eccl 9:9; 1 Pet 3:7

Title: What Marriage Needs

   Dr. Willard Harley in his book entitled His Needs, Her Needs points out the priorities of the sexes in the order of importance:

   A man desires:

   1. Sexual fulfillment

   2. Recreational companionship

   3. An attractive spouse

   4. Domestic support

   5. Admiration of his wife

   A woman desires:

   1. Affection

   2. Conversation

   3. Honesty and Openness

   4. Financial Support

   5. Family Commitment

See:  Eph 5:22; Phil 2:4; 1 Pet 3:7

Title: The Story of Valentine

   Many people do not know why February 14 is called Valentine's Day. Most people believe it got its name from a man named Valentine who lived 1700 years ago. He was a priest in Rome when Christianity was a new religion. He was put to death for teaching Christianity. Afterwards he was called a saint.

   One legend tells why Saint Valentine is the patron saint of lovers. The Roman soldiers did not want to leave their homes to fight the emperor's wars. Claudius II, who was the emperor then, ordered the young men not to marry. He thought that if they did not have homes, they would be willing to go away and fight.

   Valentine felt sorry for the unhappy young men and their sweethearts. He married many of them secretly. So even today, sweethearts celebrate in his honor.

See:  Deut 24:5

Title: Half of ME

   An individual is only half a person and spends his life looking for his missing half.

   -- Plato: On Marriage  

See:  Prov 18:22; Prov 31:10

Title: The Key to a Healthy Marriage

   The key to a healthy marriage is to keep your eyes wide open before you wed -- and half closed thereafter."

   -- James Dobson, Love is For a Lifetime.

See:  Prov 5:18; Mal 2:15

Title: The Wedding Prayer  

   Sometimes we pray "wrongly" as James says, "to spend it on your passions" (James 4:3). We want what we want, not what God wants. Some time ago I ran across a wedding prayer that illustrates how subtly this can be done. This is a girl praying on her wedding day:

   "Dear God. I can hardly believe that this is my wedding day. I know I haven't been able to spend much time with You lately, with all the rush of getting ready for today, and I'm sorry. I guess, too, that I feel a little guilty when I try to pray about all this, since Larry still isn't a Christian. But oh, Father, I love him so much, what else can I do? I just couldn't give him up. Oh, You must save him, some way, somehow.

   You know how much I've prayed for him, and the way we've discussed the gospel together. I've tried not to appear too religious, I know, but that's because I didn't want to scare him off. Yet he isn't antagonistic and I can't understand why he hasn't responded. Oh, if he only were a Christian.

   Dear Father, please bless our marriage. I don't want to disobey You, but I do love him and I want to be his wife, so please be with us and please don't spoil my wedding day."

   That sounds like a sincere, earnest prayer, does it not? But if it is stripped of its fine, pious language, it is really saying something like this:

   "Dear Father, I don't want to disobey You, but I must have my own way at all costs. For I love what You do not love, and I want what You do not want. So please be a good God and deny Yourself, and move off Your throne, and let me take over. If You don't like this, then all I ask is that You bite Your tongue and say or do nothing that will spoil my plans, but let me enjoy myself."

Title:  Marriage, Unity in

   The Cherokee marriage-ceremony is very expressive. The man and woman join hands over running water, to indicate that their lives are thenceforth to flow on in one stream.

See:  Ephesians 5:22-33

Title:  Commitment to Marriage Costs

A North Carolina jury ordered a man to pay $234,000 for stealing the love of another man's wife. The verdict was not about money, legal experts say. Instead, it's a way for a scorned spouse to send a message that cheating isn't fair or appropriate.

In August, another North Carolina jury awarded a jilted wife $1 million. North Carolina is one of the few states with alienation-of-affection laws still on the books. Most states abolished such laws when no-fault divorce laws became popular.

Said Scott Altman, law professor at the University of Southern California, "Even though fault-based divorce is abolished, most people still regard infidelity as wrong and feel terribly hurt by it. So for someone to want a remedy when they feel so aggrieved, and for a jury to be sympathetic, doesn't strike me as shocking."

--USA Today (9/19/97)

Title:  Over His Dead Body

In May All Who Come Behind Us Find Us Faithful, Robert Russell tells this story:

"In Kentucky, there is a huge rivalry in college basketball between the University of Louisville and the University of Kentucky. The story is told that at one of the recent 'Dream Games' between the two schools, an elderly woman was sitting alone with an empty seat next to her. Someone approached her and said, 'Ma'am, I have rarely seen an empty seat in Rupp Arena, let alone at the Dream Game. Whose seat is this?'

"The woman responded that she and her late husband had been season ticket holders for twenty-eight years, and the seat had belonged to him. 'Well, couldn't you find a friend or relative to come to the game with you?' the observer asked.

" 'Are you kidding?' she replied. 'They're all at my husband's funeral.' "