An Anniversary Remembrance

This week I congratulated a young woman who told me she and her husband celebrated their fifth anniversary on the fourth of July. The milestone day stretched into the night while she tended to a toddler with a sick tummy. I assured her that future anniversaries would not all be sidetracked by young children and that celebrations would become more couple-centered. I ought to know—my husband and I will mark our forty-first year of marriage next week. 

I well remember how anniversaries in our earlier years often were determined by the health of our children, the wealth of our checkbook, and the demands of others on our time. We spent several years tending to aging family members who were facing life-threatening ailments and needed our care. We weren’t always free to celebrate our marriage as we wished, but we always took time to remember the day of our wedding. Sometimes a home-cooked meal with a fresh baked cake proved to be the extent of our festivities.

God ordained marriage. He saw that man should not be alone and he made woman to be his helpmate. In Genesis 2:18 the Lord says, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make a helper suitable for him.”

He wanted men and women to be faithful to each other. In Hebrews 13:4 he tells us: “Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled.”

In Proverbs 19:14 we are told: “House and wealth are an inheritance from fathers, but a prudent wife is from the Lord.”

I would tell my friend who just completed her fifth year of marriage that she is on the right track. Two people striving together to live the life they were given will bring rewards as well as trials, but be assured God is growing you together for Him. He has a plan for your life as a couple. 

When my husband and I take time to remember our anniversary this week, I will thank God for his wisdom in creating the wonderful relationship possible between a man and a woman in the institution of marriage.

I might even bake a cake.