How popular is that!

Now if your counting I will skip reason eight and go on to reason nine and ten as to why we are still married.  Maybe if I can bring it out correctly we will discuss number eight later.  This one might bring me some strange looks.  Let's consider the animals for a moment.  Male and Female God created each and every species.  In every specie of animals both male and female have roles that contribute to the success of a union.  I heard that there is a spider whose only means of mating is rape. They hide in the brush and bait females with a food trap, then they literally jump on them and mate.  HOLD ON, don't be jumping to no conclusions.  The point I am making with this harsh reality is that both male and female spiders are content with this arrangement.  Sometimes it is the female that does the hunting and the males lie around doing nothing.  The reality is that both sexes in the animal world live out their existence within their roles.

Gaylene and I have both agreed to do our part to make our marriage work.  We have roles in our relationship that we have simply accepted as to what contributes to a healthy marriage.  Does this mean I only do what I feel is my role.  Absolutely not.  This is what sets humans apart from the animal world. We need to contribute within the agreement of the couple, our roles or parts.  And since we Love our partners, help them in theirs.  I think it is so important to work out what we will bring to the relationship, and to do it with joy, knowing we are pleasing our mates.  Gaylene and I have found that what we bring to the relationship and how we please our mates is what pleases God and so God blesses these marriages.  So reason number nine......Take Joy in pleasing your mate.  Even if you have maintained the yard for years, or made meals forever!  There is a greater lesson here I want to get across. 

There is a story of a man who died and went to heaven to find two signs above two different lines. One sign said: "ALL THOSE MEN WHO HAVE BEEN DOMINATED BY THEIR WIVES, STAND HERE." That line of men seemed to stretch off through the clouds into infinity.

The second sign read: "ALL THOSE WHO HAVE NEVER BEEN DOMINATED BY THEIR WIVES, STAND HERE." Underneath the sign stood one man.
He went over to the man, grabbed his arm and said, "What's the secret, how did you do it? That other line has millions of men and you are the only one standing in this line."
The man looked around with a puzzled expression and said, "Why, I am not sure I know. My wife just told me to stand here."

Seriously.......Men be leaders in your marriage. #1 responsibility

But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ. 1 Corinthians 11:3

responsibility number  2 Love your wife unconditionally.

Ephesians 5:25 reads, "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her."

and responsibility number 3  Serve your wife.

John 13: 1-17  According to the New Testament, being head of your wife does not mean being her master, but her servant. Again, Christ is our model for this type of leadership. Jesus did not just talk about serving; He demonstrated it when he washed His disciples' feet.

Is Family Important! (discretion required)

Gaylene and Aaryn went to winnipeg today to their chiropractor appointments.  So I am sitting by myself in the sun room enjoying the quiet and wonderful evening.  What a great summer we have had!  No wonder it is flying bye so fast,  I kind of left you hanging at 7 reasons we are still married, as our trip ended before I could give you three more.  Our family was kind enough to hand over the crystal on sunday and we enjoyed the evening being together with some of our family.  How important is Family?  Well forgive me if I am wrong.  I say it is of no importance.  Now before you jump all over this, and because I only have a couple followers, this will seem like a ripple in a lake, let me explain.  If you will do a search on Amazon you will find approx. 20 000 books written on the subject on overcoming marriage problems.  It is estimated that 42 percent of marriage will end in divorce.  According to studies, evangelical Christians who attend church on a regular basis divorce 35 percent lower than secular couples.  Do you think that maybe the Bible has something to say about marriage??  While Amazon sells thousands of copies of these 20 000 marriage improvement  books, should we not go to the book that actually shows results?
     Reason number 8 for having been married for 25 years is not relying on family to keep it.  Sure it is a blessing to have strong Christian Family around you, but being a Christian and relying on God's Word wipes out any negative, dysfunctional family's influence.  I have come to realize that my Relationship with God needs to, and should be of greater importance than family members.  My family that is not walking with God, have zero influence in what our marriage is and has become.  In fact Gaylene and I pray that our influence on them is what will change them.  Our marriage gets stronger when we see how much others need Jesus.  God has modeled marriage after his own relationship with the Church.  How can any dysfunctional family hold a candle to that?  I choose not to Give Family any credit to my marriage.  Family is a Blessing from God and has great value in the work of the Holy Spirit in this world so others see Christ at work in us.  Great Families are the results of His work in action.
    Hey I'm no expert!  Just give me God and my best friend Gaylene, and together we will go another 25!