Last night as I worked amongst my flower beds, I was reminded how drab plucking weeds out of the beds in the middle of summer can be. My fingernails get dirty and my back and knees tend to ache from bending over. I really don’t enjoy it very much. Every spring, however, I go to the local stores and pick out new flowers and can’t wait to get them planted and see them grow.
Isn’t that much like how our marriages tend to be. When we first marry, we are so excited about all the new things our marriage will look like and how it will grow and develop but as the months and years continue after the wedding, we find that some of the cultivating of our marriage is dirty work and not nearly as pleasant as when we first said, “I do”. If we remember the beginning……. the hopes and dreams and purposes of why we wanted to marry in the first place, we might spend a little more time cultivating our marriages in the later seasons and find that a little more effort reaps the benefits of hard work.
A little extra time in the garden every night has rewarded me with beautiful flowers and enjoyment every time I pass by them. A little extra time and effort on my marriage does the same!