Last night some very dear ladies held a bridal shower for me. I asked each of them to bring a recipe and a piece of advice to share. Here is some of the jewels of advice I received….
- Love your husband the way you want your husband to love you.
- May you always remember that this is a vow you’ve made unto the Lord and each other. Love is a commitment.
- Let your marriage be one of give and take. Work together as a team—always keeping God at the head of the household.
- Always keep the Lord first in your life, allowing Him to be the center of your marriage.
- Build community as a young woman far away from immediate and extended family, it is essential! Been there and done that and without it, life in a foreign land would have been very difficult!
- May this be the goal of your marriage: “O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.” Psalms 34:3
- Don’t’ just be his wife!! Remember to also be his “girlfriend.” always put him first after God and before kids, extended family, friends, ect…
- …and let the wife see that she respects and reverences her husband, [that she notices him, regards him, honors him, prefers him, venerates and esteems him; and that she defers to him, praises him, and loves and admires him exceedingly.] Ephesians 5:33
Any others? Do tell!
Hi, sister. Just catching up on your life changes by looking at your blog. Glad to hear the adjustment is going well.
ReplyDeleteI've bestowed plenty of thoughts and advice on you over the years :-), so will just offer two comments on the ones you posted here:
1) "Love your husband the way you want your husband to love you."
--I understand the good spirit of what was said here, but I disagree in the following way: One thing you will both have to learn (and this is especially true as the honeymoon period wears off) is to love each other differently. In other words, the way a man needs to be loved and the way he feels love is quite different than the way a woman needs to be love and feels love. So if you do what's natural to you in showing love, it probably won't communicate it to him effectively and vice versa. So you'll each need to be both teacher and student to learn how the other understands love. Hope the learning process goes well for y'all! And it is an ongoing process, so don't get discouraged!
2) "Don’t’ just be his wife!! Remember to also be his “girlfriend.” always put him first after God and before kids, extended family, friends, ect…"
--I couldn't agree more. This is absolutely key and as the busyness of life becomes more and more overwhelming (and it will--especially after kids!) you will need to be more and more proactive in remembering this.
God's richest blessings on you both! your loving older "brother," Andy
oops, missed a "d"--see if you can find it... :-)
ReplyDelete"the way a man feels loved and the way he feels love[d] is quite different..."
ReplyDeleteThanks for the advice and for being a great older brother!