Following is a continuation of several things I have learned over the past four years of marriage to my amazing husband! (Read Part 1 Here) Marriage is quite the journey, and we have been so blessed to have an amazing God walk the road with us. Thanks for reading. Lesson Three “If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” 1 Corinthians 13:1 Scott and I spent a weekend together earlier this year and got the chance to sit down and write out goals for our year. We wrote down goals, verses to focus on, and books to read together in the areas of our marriage, our two children individually, and our ministry/relationship with God. It was such a great time to connect and talk about each of these areas and share our dreams, desires, and prayers! The verse above was one of the ones that we wrote down to focus on for our marriage. It’s something that we don’t want to forget because love is such a big part of a marriage! We don’t ever want to be the couple who seems like we have it all going our way and we do and say everything just right, but then when it all comes down to it, nothing we do or say is out of love, because that is just a loud, annoying noise to our God and it makes a marriage very hard. Oftentimes I have to ask myself if I am doing things because people are watching and I want them to think I’m the “perfect” wife or if I’m doing things because I love the man God’s given me and I want to serve him. Perhaps if it is just out of duty or because of how others might see us then maybe we should go on more weekend dates with just our husbands and remember the reasons why we fell in love with them again. Lesson Four “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22-23 Marriage and life are tough. I mean, there are days and months that are amazing and wonderful and might feel easy breezy but sometimes it is so hard! The good thing is that God knows this… He knows what we are dealing with and has told us that life, even the Christian life following Christ, has its tribulations and difficult people to deal with and other trials along the way. But, the awesome part is that our Lord is faithful and He won’t just drop us and walk the other way leaving us to figure it all out. He renews us day by day and “Because of the Lord’s great love, we are not consumed!” How awesome is that! Marriage is amazing and having someone to spend each day with and someone who helps me grow closer to my Lord and Savior is such a wonderful blessing in my life. I’m so thankful that God has given me someone to walk through life with. I’m so thankful that He has given both Scott and I people who encourage and pray for us, and that God shows us in His Word what love is supposed to look like between a husband and wife. And, each day I’m very glad that we have a God who never leaves us to walk through this journey alone. He is so, very faithful! About Natalie![]() Natalie graduated with her Elementary Education degree in 2008 and now serves as a missionary to college students with Master Plan Ministries. Outside of ministry, she loves taking pictures of her husband and two children, scrap booking photo memories of vacations and day-by-day moments. She is so thankful for the opportunity to be a mentor to women who are faced with the peer pressure and endless life choices of daily college life, and is excited to see God’s transforming work as He shows His grace and love to these students and prepares them for the years ahead. Sharing this article over at these awesome blogs.
7 Comments
7/10/2013 08:44:17 pm
Natalie - You are so right, marriage is hard. But there is no greater joy than sharing life with the man that God uses to transform us. Thank you for sharing this. I visited from Thriving Thurs.
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7/15/2013 01:40:26 am
Natalie...love how you said this: no greater joy than sharing life with the man that God uses to transform US. So very true...
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Natalie Slade
7/12/2013 07:51:50 am
Joanne, thank you so much for coming over to read! I know! I love how God uses the people in our lives and takes us through the events that we need to go through in order to transform us into the women he wants us to be! :) So hard at times but one day in heaven we will see how it all fits together into a beautiful work of God!
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7/14/2013 04:08:42 pm
Your are my neighbor at Spiritual Sundays. I am happy that you are able to be a mentor and example to young girls who struggle with peer pressure to conform to this worlds standards.
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Natalie Slade
7/16/2013 02:14:20 pm
Hazel, thank you so much for your kind words! I'm so glad you were able to come visit our site!
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7/15/2013 01:42:05 am
Natalie...thanks so much for sharing with us the lessons you are/have learned. Valuable reminders for us all. Blessings... Visiting from Alabaster Jar link up...
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Natalie Slade
7/16/2013 02:18:30 pm
Sheila, thank you! It's such a good reminder for me thinking through all these lessons we've learned and we are so thankful for those who have stood by us and prayed for us through the years!
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