Marriage

One MAN and One WOMAN is what God defined as marriage! With our daughter getting married in exactly 1 month and 1 day she and I have talked and we are so very proud of Tabitha Jane as she has done as EVERY young lady should and kept herself for the one she's to marry, Thomas Robert!

Back in 1981 when I was just barely a teenager, my bus captain in NC gave me a book titled "The Right Romance in marriage" By Cathy Rice. At first I thought I'm only 13 why are you giving this to me, but I'll never forget what Bro Harry told me. He said, "Paula, I know right now you don't need this book, but one day you will meet the man you are to marry and I want you to have this for that time." Well, I gave the book to my mom to hold on to for me, and shortly after I graduated High School my mom gave the book back to me. You ask why after high school? Well, I was going to college and many times that is where you meet your husband/wife and this was and is a GREAT book.  This was upon my request that she hold it till then. I have read the book several times now and you know, Not once did it say the romance between 2 men or 2 women, it ALWAYS mentioned having the right romance between a MAN and WOMAN!

Proverbs 18:22 "Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the Lord." 
When you get married yes you are happy but the word/or act of marriage isn't all that will make you happy. Why not be happy in your marriage through the Lord. Have the Lord as part of your marriage.
When you and your spouse are together, do you pray together? Do you read God's word together? Do you share things you learn from your personal devotions together? These things will make your marriage stronger.

If you are single reading this, this next part is for especially for you. I adopted several things as to what My Man should be when I was "searching" for Mr Right :) Now, Mr right didn't come along for a long time, but I knew when I saw William Paul IV walk by that he was the one. I didn't know his name let alone anything about him, but somehow I knew he was the one. Mrs Rice had 20 things she looked for in her man,  I'm just going to list some of the one's I used for myself.

My Ideal Man

 

1. He MUST be saved.

2. He MUST be truthful.

3. He Must not be idle, lazy.

4. He Must be a leader among men and in our home.

5. Have high regards for women - especially his wife.

6. He should have ambition.

7. He must not curse, drink or smoke (these are 3 combined)

8. He MUST be dependable.

9. He must have faith and trust in me.

10.  He must love me through good and bad.

 

Again these are just a few things, of course there was the He must be handsome!

 

All these things above are important but let me ask you, If your husband were to say to you one day, we are going to Africa as Missionaries would you go willing or would you complain about all you will have to leave behind?

 

Ruth 1:16 "Whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge; thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God,"

 

Would you say this to your husband or would it be: Whither thou goest I'll go BUT  it has to be here, and where thou lodgest I will lodge as long as there's a queen size bed, in a two story house, 2 car garage, fenced in back yard and beautiful flowers, thy people, well they will be mine IF I like them, thy God yea he will be God too.

 

Which way would you Honestly go with? Ruth 1:16 or what I wrote below it?? See I have been in this position where, Ruth 1:16, I had to decided, that was what I would follow not what I typed afterwards. However I had to decide this BEFORE I said, "Yes" to marry my husband. See, he at the time we were dating felt the Lord was leading him to Poland!! Yes I said Poland, well shortly after we married Dr. Maurice Paulson a very dear Missions teacher, asked my husband to pray about Canada. When we finished college we were headed to Canada. BUT when I married my husband I married him knowing I would follow him to Poland, to love a people that would become his people. I to this day believe the Lord allowed him to have a burden for Poland, to see if I would have the Ruth 1:16 testimony or the "Paula" way.... Let me say, as any girl would, I had my dreams of where I would live and what I would drive, and trust me the car was a lot nicer than what we are driving, and well, the house was mine not my Dad in laws house. That is another story. Which just so there's no confusion the Lord has put us in Maine to serve. There are earlier post that tells about our ministry here in Maine. So....

 

Have I always wanted to follow? Honestly, no, but through much prayer and God being my God and my husbands God he helped me to get through those times I didn't want to go.

 

So see friend, marriage isn't just a ring on your finger, it's a whole lot more! I've barely touched on what we as wives should be or do for our MAN, but if you truly want to be the wife, God intended you to be, you will follow Ruth 1:16 "Whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge; thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God,"

 

Will it always be easy? Nope!

Will you always want to go? Nope!

The next question is though, Will you? ONLY YOU can answer that!

 

In days to come I will share  more on this subject of Marriage. By no means am I an expert on this subject but I know a book, The King James Bible that has ALL the answers! I will have books I recommend for reading also on Marriage, but at the top of that list will be the Bible!!