Love Will Keep Us Together?

50 years! It is so hard to believe we have actually been married 50 years. Someone said that we must really love each other a lot to stay together that long. I thought a lot about that and came to some conclusions.
I don't think it was because we loved each other so much. There were times when that love got a little thin. A pastor told me one time that usually sexual issues(often blamed for incompatibility) are not usually the real reason for discord in a marriage. He said it is usually one of three things - disagreements on how to raise the children, financial issues or communication. He said if those things were good intimacy would take care of itself. Perhaps he was right.
In the early years of marriage when passion begins to wane a bit, finances are tight, you have these little people staring up into your face asking to be raised and communication becomes a battle or non existent there has to be more than love to keep you together (at least we needed more) and that was COMMITMENT. Commitment to each other and to our children. And of course that stood for both of us.
We had no idea where that commitment would take us when we stood in front of the pastor and our guests and said, "For better or for worse, for rich or for poor, in sickness and in health", but we did mean it. We said it because we were madly in love with each other and wanted to be together for the rest of our lives. However, there came days or periods of time when we weren't so sure about that.
Billy gtraham's wife was asked if she had ever considered divorce. "Divorce? Never. Murder, yes", she replied.
Because Lewis came from a home divided as far as religion was concerned he was deteremined that this issue would be resolved before he got married. I was also committed to being in agreement on faith matters with the person I married. I recall the date where we prayed together about this, committing ourselves to allowing God to be the head of our home and to living according to His plan for us. It was commitment we chose to make before we got married.
Although many do not make that particular commitment and still remain committed to each other, I believe for us it was because of this commitment that we made it through some very rough times. Gods word was our guide in raising our children, handling our finances and teaching us about how to live individually and together. It was the rock we stood on and lived and taught our children so they would have a frim foundation to stand on in this world of shifting ideas and morals.
As the years have passed and we have stayed true to those commitments our love for one another has grown to such a depth that we know, Love Will Keep Us together.

PS the other day I was having lunch with my two grand daughters and I told them that if I lost my husband I would not get married again. When I thought about that later I realized they must have been thinking. "Geez, of course not GRANDMA!!"