BEFORE YOU SAY "I DO"
I would like to encourage every future bride to carefully make that life plan two-fold. Dream about the marriage first and what wonderful attributes you will be bringing to the table (Proverbs 31: 10 - 31). Start to dream about the values that will govern your home. Dream about how you will lovingly and effectively resolve disputes and forgive those mistakes that are made by either of you. Dream about the children you may have and how you will raise them. Dream about how you will both handle the financial matters in your home. Once you can visualize those things and can see yourself content in them, then begin planning for that day that will brings every day after together. Marriages do not just fall into place, you must work at it and oftentimes, this is something that many couples just do not know how to do. But if you dream about your life together and how you will make it a success, I know that you will find that the wedding day will be perfect, whether it costs $100.00 or in the hundreds of thousands. When you look through the picture album, you will see a few pages of the wedding and many, many pictures of every day spent being happy after that day.
A truly good wife is the most precious treasure a man can find! Her husband depends on her, and she never lets him down (Proverbs 31: 10, 11, CEV).
together. Oh, I can hear some of you thinking, this is why people live together first. Well, you are in for a rude awakening. Living together and being married are two different creatures; how many times have you heard about couples who lived together for several years and when they decided to get married, couldn't make it through that first year as a legally married couple?
Be faithful in marriage, (Deuteronomy 5:18, CEV).
Allow me to give you my take on the matter as to why that happens in many instances. It is all about expectations and the expectations I am going to call a "Dream". Before a marriage takes place, there should be some forethought as to what kind of marriage you want, and this should entail more than just the physically characteristics of your spouse and how well they perform in bed. Although that is greatly important, it is not all that marriage consists of. Because most couples do not plan or dream about their ideal marriage, their marriage lacks a foundation, and they end up having nothing to build upon. That little girl will plan her wedding day right down to the last detail, but she probably doesn't have a clue as to how she wants her marriage to be and what kind of qualities it takes to have a healthy, fulfilled and successful marriage. No one told that little girl while she was planning her dream wedding that she should also think about the days that follow.
"Marriages do not just fall into place, ... "