It’s hard to believe…another year of marriage. My wife and I celebrated our 14th marriage anniversary this month. Time has certainly flown by.
We were blessed with a gift card to Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, so we were able to have a wonderful anniversary dinner out. My mouth is watering just thinking about it, so I’m going to stop now.
The road to year 14 hasn’t always been easy. We’ve had to endure some hard times and even thoughts of divorce.
But through perseverance and God’s strength, our marriage has turned around for the better. We didn’t give up on it. So now anniversaries are no longer a thing of dread but a thing of joy.
If you’re going through some hard times in your marriage right now, don’t give up on it. Persevere and trust that God wants you to have a great marriage. We’ve seen first hand that God will honor that and can most certainly turn things around.
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The Holidays are approaching and each year the Holidays seem to be getting harder. My husband and I are going through a divorce and our family is really split apart. My husband thinks its great that our youngest gets to celebrate the holidays in three places. I am really having a tough time with this. Prior to marriage the Holidays were also tough but I just slid through them and Thanked the Lord that they were over. We haven’t done much since my husband and I have gotten married either. We have been apart more than together. Last year I decided to finally decorate for the Holidays with the kids even though daddy was not with us. My husband was surprised because I was very against the fact that society takes Christ out of Christmas and have refused to participate in the materialism. But I’ve grown alot since last year. I’ve realized that our family can still celebrate our Saviours birth and still put up decorations. So I have planned that we will do that “together” next weekend! Because of our family situation it is hard to find the Joy in the Holidays. Last year I forced myself to even go through the motions but this year I really want my family to live in the Joy of the Lord.
Any suggestions how to do that on a next to nothing budget?
Hi Jacqueline,
I’m sorry to hear about your divorce. I pray that you and your husband let God help you find a way to stay together.
I think a lot of people are like you and just try to survive the holidays. They can get soooo busy and stressful.
I think it’s great that you decided to start decorating for Christmas. It’s good to look at it as part of the celebration of our Lord Jesus Christ, and not worry about everyone else’s motives behind Christmas. In our family, we enjoy the tradition of things like decorating, watching TV specials (Charlie Brown Christmas, Rudolph, The Grinch, etc), and reading about Jesus’ birth on Christmas day. These things cost nothing, unless where you live they don’t show the TV specials and you have to rent the DVDs.
Also, what really brings joy is thanking God for things out loud. It really brings joy to my heart when I’m in survival mode to just thank God out loud for my kids, the time I do get to spend with them, for Christ coming to save us, and much much more.
A great first step for great change is to begin by thanking God for what He’s already done, and then for all the promises He’s made to us in His Word.
I hope that help and have a very Merry Christmas.
What do you do when the other spouse is a new christian and has a pain pill addiction and has been in the last two weeks sending awful letters to home from jail because he is mad at himself? How do I stay supportive but yet tough love it? I am so tired.
Hi Laurie,
I’m not sure if I completely understand your situation nor do I have any experience in it either.
That being that case, here are my thoughts. If your husband is a new Christian, then that is progress. As a new Christian, he has a whole lot to learn about God, Jesus, and what the Bible says (as a long time Christian, I still have a whole lot to learn also:). Let him know that God loves him and if he has repented for his past behavior and asked God for forgiveness…then God has forgiven and forgotten. Now he needs to forgive himself and move on as though it were a new day. He can’t do anything else about his past, but he can do something about the now and future.
Also, let him know that God loves him and that you love him. But, that you don’t have to put up with the awful letters (I’m speaking from not knowing what they say) and will ignore them. But let him know that you are committed to him and will help him work through things with God’s help.
And for your strength, remember Phil 4:13.
I hope that’s some help to you and have a great day.
HaHa, blessed with a Ruth’s Chris gift card? more like advertising, weblink included lol
Thanks for commenting “hmmm”. Now if only I could get some revenue from that advertising:)