Anniversary Week

Aaron Orendorff

All this week Amanda and I are on vacation at the Oregon Coast (well, not all this week, we’ll be checking out on Thursday . . . maybe Friday, if we decide to stay an extra night). The reason? Monday the 10th was our 8-year anniversary. Plus I finally have a job that gives me vacation pay!

While away, we brought two books with us (four books actually, we’re still learning to share): When Sinners Say “I Do” by Dave Harvey and Sex, Romance and the Glory of God by C. J. Mahaney. Great titles, I know.

We read and talk through the first two chapters of Harvey’s book yesterday and today and I thought I’d share a few of his thoughts.

Dave Harvey, When Sinners Say “I Do”

What we believe about God determines the quality of our marriage (20).

It’s a wonderful, freeing thing to realize that the durability and quality of your marriage is not ultimately based on the strength of your commitment to your marriage. Rather, it’s based on something completely apart from your marriage: God’s truth; truth we find plain and clear on the pages of Scripture (23).

[Marriage] exists for [God] more than it exists for you and me and our spouses. . . . God is the most important person in a marriage. Marriage is for our good, but it is first for God’s glory (25).

What if you abandoned the idea that the problems and weaknesses in your marriage are caused by a lack of information, dedication, or communication? What if you saw your problems as they truly are: caused by a war within your own heart? (29).

[C]ould it be that God already knows you are a sinners, yet gives you everything you need to build a thriving marriage anyway? God is completely, totally, enthusiastically supportive of your every effort to build a strong, God-glorifying marriage. He wants us to delight in marriage. He wants to make it strong, make it stick, and make it sweet (32).