Celebration time for your sweetheart is coming

Celebration time for your sweetheart is coming

OK, here it is again — that time for you to go out and buy that box of chocolates or that bouquet of flowers for your sweetie. And I think that is what you ought to do, not just on a certain day of a certain month but every once in awhile, and along with it a big old hug and a kiss… and whisper softly in her ear, “Darling, I sure love you.”

Have you ever sat and thought what part God plays in your marriage in everyday life? The Bible teaches that when you choose a mate that you want to spend the rest of your life with, you two should become as one.

Now I know that some of you are saying right now, If you had to live with that person I married, you wouldn't be writing these words!” And I know that it's not always going to turn out OK, but I'm talking about the ones that do, and only you know where you fit in.

I know that the statement by itself is some what confusing, but let me take you back to the time when this thing that we call life started. It was started with two people called Adam and Eve, and if you have read your Bible then you know that Adam was made out of the earth (or dust, whichever you prefer) and then later on, with him having nothing but a lot of animals around him all the time, he got a little lonesome for someone, so God told him he was going to give him a help mate, or wife (just for the purpose of not being confusing to some reading this but the one thing that sometimes we tend to forget is the fact that God did not make Eve from the dust like he did Adam, but he put Adam to sleep and then took out one of his ribs, and with that rib he made Eve). Now some of you ladies that don't like this story, don't get mad at me, because God is the one that put it all together. So now you see, after all these thousands of years later, he wants us that get married and become man and wife to become as one, as if to say like Adam and Eve were.

Now that's not to say that you will get the perfect match when you do find that special “rib,” because married life is a day-to-day thing. Working toward becoming one, it doesn't just happen, because now there are two of you, with two completely different opinions on how to think and how to do things.

Have you ever sat down and thought just what it was you saw in that precious lady that you took as your wife? Maybe it was a short time ago, or maybe you are like me, working on that 56th year (or longer for some of you). Just let your mind wonder as to what it was and remember, and your old heart kind of flutters just a little bit because you start remembering that place that it happened and that feeling of love you had for her was something special, even to the point of thinking, “You, my pretty lady, are the one that I want to always have by my side.” Only God knows what lies ahead for the two of you, but if he is in the middle of the two of you, I guarantee that for the most part your life will be better as you go down that road that we call marriage — not perfect but better.

It's like becoming a Christian — you are not made perfect, but you are totally forgiven, and with God, he deals with the soul that lives inside you and not the flesh. And with the flesh still hanging around, there will be times that you will make mistakes — some big, some little — but because the soul belongs to him, he will never leave you.

Now I know that some of you are reading this and thinking, “This guy is sure getting mushy,” and I must say you are right. Because of God, I'm a mushy kind of guy when it comes to my wife. I know you have heard the saying before, “Don't go to bed mad,” and although that is a fact, I take it one step farther, because I never want to go to bed without hugging and giving my precious darling a kiss before we go off to sleep. And that is for sure, because I love her, but mostly because of God I want to, and because I never know when God might decide to take one of us home to be with him. So I want to always have that thought that the last time I saw her or she saw me, it was nothing but love between us, with God right in the middle.

I know we have had a good many years together, and because 99.9 percent of them have been great, it makes me understand more of what God meant when he said to become as one, because I believe personally that’s what we have in our life. Now you don't have to be as mushy as me, but I'm just saying don't make it have to be a holiday for you to tell her how much you care for her. Prove it with your love… and a box of candy inserted in there sure doesn't hurt. And ladies, don't think that you get off the hook just because it's “your” holiday that is coming up. I know this is (mostly) about him doing something for you, but if you remember in the Garden of Eden, there were two of them, not just one.

So may God bless your marriage and always remember, he will if you will let him.

Bill McFerrin is a West Memphis resident with some things to say and a certain way of saying them.

By Bill McFerrin Local Commentary