Marriage

Jess: So I just read a really depressing article about how a company called Wedlock has created "divorce insurance" offers to give you money for expenses if you and your spouse decide to get divorced. Although I have many friends whose parents have divorced and am the product of a broken marriage myself, I think that this is so completely ridiculous. Why and how has our society moved so far from the sanctity of marriage? We're so concerned about who can marry whom, when they can get married, how they can get married, etc, that we have completely lost our view of what marriage is meant to be.

I know Wes and I have been married for less than a year, but we entered into marriage as a lifetime commitment, not as just another relationship. Marriage is not the same as dating someone--marriage is saying that you are willing to be with the same person for the rest of your life, even when times get tough. If you are not willing to share your life with someone, to overcome the temptation that other people will provide, to commit (if you want) to having and raising children with that person, growing old with them, etc., then marriage is not for you. There are many people today that do not marry for whatever reason, and I think this is a perfectly good solution...some people simply do not want to get married. Times have changed, and this is an option not previously available.

That said, I believe that divorce is a possible solution to some marriage problems. I think that there are definitely some situations when people should not be married: abusive households being just one example. There are also some people who simply were never meant to be married in the first place, made a mistake, etc. But divorce should not be the solution to every problem in every marriage. This is how we have such a high divorce rate in the United States, where people believe that divorce is as simple as breaking up. It is also why people get divorced, remarried, divorced, and remarried yet again, which is a major factor in the divorce rate. People who enter marriage with the right mindset to begin with may in fact get divorced, but they are not the ones who cause this statistic to skyrocket.

Alright, I'm getting off my soapbox. I was just so extremely disappointed by this new development that I had to put my thoughts out there. I hope no one is upset by this- I just wanted to share my views.

Wes: My best friend and brother, Tomas, was the best man at our wedding. In his speech at our wedding, Tomas said that he knew that Jess and I would last for "several years." We've joked about this ever since January, that he, at our wedding reception, decided that we would only be married for "several years." But the truth is, Tomas has told us multiple times that he knows that we'll be one of the ones that last.

Thinking about it, a lot of my friends are getting/have gotten married of late. I cannot think of any of them who are not the type of couple that will last. Chris and Melendy. Amanda and Jeremy. Jon and Lauren. Justin and Sarah. Andrew and Brandy. I know that we are a small group of couples in the midst of a large world full of them, but I am proud to say that I firmly believe that God has blessed me in letting me be a part of a fellowship of believers that are all "ones that will last." We're like a bunch of little puzzles with only two pieces each. It's easy to see we fit with one another, and there's no use trying to match us with any other piece (the pieces signify people for those of you who could not follow the metaphor. Sorry. I've been watching big bang theory and have gotten used to people explaining jokes and comparisons to Sheldon).

I am a firm believer that God made us to be creatures of company. We were created to be around others. I am blessed to have Jess, someone with whom I can share every aspect of my life. I do not hold that everyone is made to enjoy the same type of relationship that I have with Jess, but I do hold that all of us are made to be in fellowship and be in community.

On a very different note, Jess and I bought a pack of the Ghirardelli peppermint and dark chocolate squares the other day, and they are delicious.

That is all for now. Thus ends the reading. You stay classy, World Wide Web!


-Wes and Jess