Choosing "I Do" Every Day
Everyone thought we were crazy for deciding to get married outside in July. In Texas. I had always wanted an outdoor wedding, and the venue we found was absolutely perfect.
I shook off the people who said it would be miserable and just told them to pray for good weather. Our prayers worked! It was a mere 80 degrees and breezy, unheard of for North Texas that time of year.
We said “I do” on a sandy beach in front of a lighthouse on a beautiful lake with all our dearest friends and family smiling at us.
Fast forward almost a decade and I see all the small and big ways God has revealed Himself in our life together. Sometimes it is the big things, like moving across the country twice, having 3 kids together, starting a ministry, and going through immense hardship and loss.
But more than those big moments is in the little daily things. It’s those small glances, the wiping off counters and noses, and picking up toys, babies, and each other.
It’s in the middle of the mess of life when we choose to love each other.
Because often when we think of marriage we think of that perfect photographed moment, the white dress and beautiful hair and sparkling eyes and magical kiss. I appreciate that as much as anyone, but I know that what really makes a marriage is all those billion moments that aren’t necessarily on our highlight reel.
Marriage is choosing each other every single amazing, difficult, and mundane day. It’s remembering the sacred covenant made before God and man, remembering you’re better off together than separate.
“Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up” (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10, ESV).
Saying “I do” is not just for your wedding day. It’s a choice to daily love and serve your spouse even when we are having an awful day.
It means choosing to recognize when we are (gulp!) wrong and having the humility to apologize. It means remembering that they are on your team, they are not the enemy!
It’s remembering to pray for them daily. It’s recognizing that there is a real enemy that wants to destroy your marriage and the best way you can fight him is by putting Jesus at the center.
“So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate” (Matthew 19:6, ESV).
No matter what state your marriage is in, Jesus can help make it better! Pursue Him, keep putting your spouse first and say “I do” daily. Watch what happens as God works to make your marriage a beautiful and unstoppable force.
