Recipe for Marriage

A few weeks ago today, daughter Allie married her love, Jordan Keeney. If this isn't a 'recipe for grace' I do not know of one! These two are marvelous together and if I could write a recipe for grace about them and FOR them, it would go like this:

A happy and long marriage IS indeed, a recipe for grace. God wants to see his people happy, healthy and filled with love in many forms--loving kindness to fellow humans, love for friends, family and last but not least, love of the romantic kind, as husband and wife. This kind of love is a bond like no other and nothing helps more than the grace of God! So what else is a recipe for a good marriage? Trust. Kindness and patience. Truth telling. Agreeing to stick together in decision making even when you are not totally sure that you on board with 'said' decision. Loving when it's hard to love, and, being loved when you are quite positive that you are being unlovable. Marriage takes commitment when you want to bolt and time when yours is all spent. It means that sometimes you wish you could only think about yourself, but you promised when you said 'I do' that you would consider the wishes and dreams for two. And possibly later, for three, four or more of you!

And how do you combine this recipe to make it last? Mix all the ingredients: kindness, tender loving care, patience, listening, truth-telling, agreements, and bind this together with love--a long lasting huge dose of it! Mix well. Mix often and incorporate the ingredients in different doses, frequently.