We, as married Catholic couples, are in for the long haul. Thank God we are Catholics who know this from the get-go!
And yet I have, of late, seen good Catholic couples walk their separate ways, even after many years, and I shake my head, like the article says, in sadness.
Like everyone else, we can make it or break it. It takes grace, work, forgiveness and love to “Reach for his hand”…until the day we die!
From 100 Ways to Love Your Husband by Lisa Jacobson (used with permission)
Give thanks.
Always. For all things. (Eph. 5: 20)
Choosing to be thankful can truly transform your life and your marriage. Try it. Express your gratefulness to your husband – pick one wonderful quality and then another – and mention it to others around you too.
Start saying it and begin believing it. Watch how it changes you and how it impacts him.
Make the most of little moments.
Don’t wait for those great, sweeping events – those are mostly found in the movies. Big love stories are made up of many small behind-the-scene moments.
Gratefully accept his gifts. Don’t mention the price or how he got it “wrong”. This isn’t the time to be practical or point out that it’s not the right size or color. Just be thankful.
Hold hands.
When you’re walking together, when you’re driving together, and sometimes simply grab his hand for no reason at all. It’s such a simple connecting point.
Two people joined together hand-in-hand going through life together.
10, 243. A somewhat surprising number, isn’t it? Rather amazing. That’s how many times I’ve calculated we’ve held hands. Over 10,000 times.
My slim hand tucked into his large, strong one. Our fingers entwined and my wedding ring tucked in between.
Perhaps the fact that we’ve been married for 21 years may help account for this impressive number. But then again… maybe it doesn’t explain a thing.
You should be shocked that we hold hands at all. You see, the odds were against us from the get-go.
Those two will wake up hating each other. That’s what the pastor pronounced at our wedding ceremony. He really did.
Now he didn’t say it publicly – merely mentioned it casually afterward to those standing nearby. In his professional opinion, we didn’t stand a chance.
Wake up hating?? Not exactly the blessing a new bride looks for on her wedding day.
It would seem we were doomed. Declared incompatible from the very start. Then, oh, how I dreaded that day when we’d wake up hating each other. I’d always hoped we’d turn out the lights loving one another. And wake up just the same. Every day for the rest of our lives.
A few years went by and we looked on while many of our friends’ marriages fell apart. He and I lay next to each other in the dark, quietly praying and weeping for them. Our hearts breaking for their hearts – for theirs and for their children’s.
It wasn’t how anyone ever wanted it. And I wept a little from fear, too. What would happen to us? Were we going to be next?
As if he could read my thoughts, he grasped my hand and whispered, “Let’s not do that, Babe. Let’s love each other instead.” That’s all he said.
But I knew what he meant and I squeezed his hand back to let him know that he could count me in. We were going up against the odds.
Now here we are, twenty-one years later, and still holding hands. Still learning to love each other. Still determined to never grow cold or hateful toward the other.
Yes, by God’s grace, I’m still reaching for his hand.
“Do the things you don’t want to do. Do them cheerfully and well. E.Schaeffer wrote, ‘Somebody has to get up early, stay up late, do more than the others, if the human garden is to be a thing of beauty.’ At first glance it doesn’t seem fair, but there are hidden and precious rewards for dying to self and serving. Stomping and self-pity cancel the reward points.” 🙂 -Charlotte Siems
You see, we don’t marry Prince Charming and live happily ever after. We are humans and we have faults….many faults….Both of us, husband and wife. It takes consistent effort to make a good marriage. Every day, every hour, every minute, we need to be thinking the right thoughts, praying the right prayers, listening to the right people and doing the right things…
Get him that special gift for Father’s Day with these beautiful rosaries. Available here.
The pages in this maglet (magazine/booklet) is for the Catholic wife…to inspire her in the daily walk as a Godly, feminine, loving wife. As wives, we have a unique calling, a calling that causes us to reach into our innermost being in order to give ourselves to our husbands the way Christ would desire.We, as women, have the awesome responsibility AND power to make or break our marriages and our relationships. Let’s not wait to fix it AFTER it is broken.It is all about self-sacrifice, thankfulness, kindness, graciousness, etc.The articles in this maglet reflect these virtues and will serve to inspire and encourage. It is a Catholic maglet, based on solid Catholic principles.
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This was so beautiful! I just want to cry from the heartache I have seen around me, especially in people I knew. I want to hold his hand always, he is my sweetie! It’s his birthday, could you spare a prayer for him today? ☺️Thank you! 💕
Yes of course! 🙏🏻🙏🏻💞