I have recently been reminded how important it is in our marriage and family to value unity.
Over the years we have had our share of disagreements and frustrations. Some big and significant, some tiny and even silly. It could be easy for the life circumstances to divide a husband and wife. We are different people, with different personalities, but we love each other and that is worth fighting for.
Currently we are in the middle of a season that is busy with parenting and discipling our children as they start a new school, deal with pressures of new friends, and other struggles. Some days it is utterly exhausting and draining, and we could easily begin to lose each other in the process. We are always having to be on our toes to stop sibling disagreements or comfort high emotions from a busy day. In the moments of high stress we have a choice to make: Do we turn on each other allowing the stress of the situation to win or do we turn to the Father and choose unity?
When we walked down the aisle 11 years ago that seemed so easy…all we had was each other and a young love that was untouched by the worries of real life. Now we have lived life together and experienced extreme joy and extreme grief. We’ve learned that we are in a constant process of working on ourselves and working on our relationships; that we will never reach perfection, but will grow!
We will grow spiritually together and as individuals, we will grow as parents, and we will grow as friends. This verse is a visual reminder to us that when we are striving for unity we need to act with patience and love instead of our own emotions. More importantly, we ask the Holy Spirit to bring a strong peace in our home, our marriage and our lives. Because when we do that we are acting out of true love. True love for God and true love for each other.
-Faith B.