Anyway Love

This past weekend Nathan & I went to "Focus on your Marriage Simulcast" through Focus on the Family. I can't even begin to tell you how much we learned and how much we realized that we still have to learn! So far our marriage has been wonderful & it is such a blessing to get to spend every day together. I guess for us, the marriage simulcast put a lot of things into perspective and talked a lot about the "hard stuff". I think we often hear about how wonderful it is to be married but no one often talks about the difficult times and the moments where you flat out just don't like each other. Don't go think we are having all these big problems---not true at all! It was just such an encouragement to hear the testimonies of so many Godly people and to be reminded that the purpose of our marriage should ultimately be to bring honor & glory to Him.

This past week my Mom forwarded this Focus on the Family article to me. Check it out & consider this:

"Will you love only because? Or are you willing to love anyway? Will you love a man or woman who doesn't appreciate your sacrifice? Will you love a husband or wife who takes you for granted? Will you love a spouse who isn't nearly as kind to you as you are to him or her?

Just about every faithless marriage is based on because love. Christians are called to anyway love. That's what makes us different. That's what gives glory to God. That's what helps us appreciate God's love for us, because God loves us anyway. He gives and gives and gives – and we take Him for granted. He is eager to meet with us, and we get too busy to notice Him. He is good to us, and we accuse Him mercilessly when something doesn't go just the way we planned it.

But God loves us anyway. To love anyway is to love like God – and to learn about God's love for us.

That's love, the way God intended it."