In
1966, a song was written by Terry Kirkman and recorded by The Association. "Cherish"
remained as number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks. That
means the words resonated in people's hearts.
I
never knew how it felt to be cherished until I married my husband, Kevin. Like
the song says, his love for me is deep within his heart, and this makes him
delight in spending time with me, holding me, and enjoying the fact that I
relish spending time with him as well.
We
are also best friends, and we love our shared adventures; but most of all, we
cherish one another and our life together. As a couple, we share our love for
the Lord, and we work together in His Kingdom, which is the foundation of our
relationship.
Many
marriages have all the elements of survival: serving and sacrificing for one
another, feeling empathetic toward each other's illnesses and victories and
defeats, cheering each other along toward our successes, and enjoying an
intimate affection that fulfills the soul and spirit, as well as the body.
We
also delight in one another, enjoy each other, and make plans to spend regular
time together every day - even if it is only for a few moments, we make it
memorable quality time. Making an ongoing commitment to cherish one another
adds to the intimacy of this time together.
Even
if business, illnesses, family issues, etc. get in the way of romance or
"doing life as usual", we never lose the glow of the cherishing
intimacy that we built together during several decades of loving and serving
one another.
Prayer:
Father
God, remind us that loving someone can switch to hating that same person simply
by tossing the coin of circumstances. However, when our love is based on
cherishing our mate, we are more invested in one another. We look beyond
disappointments, broken promises, signs of aging, debilitating illness, mental imbalance,
emotional issues, etc., and we continue to love and cherish our mate.
Teach
us to base our affections on serving, rather than on being served; on
preferring one another, rather than on expecting our mate to make us happy; on
enjoying our maturing relationship, rather than expecting the sparks that initially
drew us together to continue. Make our relationship an example for younger
couples to emulate; so they can build strong marriages for future generations
as well.
Thought
for the Day:
Marriage
is full of many choices, and they can come from our heart and increase our
intimacy, or they can develop into a downward spiral that detracts from our
feelings of love and cherishing one another; when our mate is our greatest
treasure in life, the most intimate days of our marriage are always ahead of
us.
