What 60 Years of Marriage Looks Like – Part 2

Sep 16, 2013 by Jim and Jerolyn Bogear

Marriage is like a beautiful tapestry. It has form, texture, and color. It takes many years to construct a masterpiece and usually more than one set of hands. The vision for your marriage is the picture you have formed in your minds together as a couple. Maybe it will be for 40 years or 60 years. However, long you are together, you can continually work to make that picture a reality.

In Part 1 I addressed the way we can grow individually to fulfill the vision for our marriage. We must be diligent in our own growth to be a balanced partner with another person.

Here I will talk about how we can work together as a couple to finish painting the picture we have in mind for our marriage.

Marital Growth:

The marriage relationship is one that must continually be seeking a new level to reach. If we as individuals are growing, then our marriage must grow and adjust with each individual’s changes.

Devotion: Growing more and more committed to this person you have chosen to live your life with. Accepting them for who they are and giving grace when they fail. As your relationship grows, your unconditional love increases.

Demonstration: Consciously showing your love for this person increases as you learn more and more to appreciate them as a blessing in your life. You come to realize that when you show your love for them, they increase their demonstrations of love to you. This exchange of love in action increases the intimacy between you as a couple.

Dialogue: Learning to share from the depths of your heart. A marriage can go for a long time on talking about the everyday, mundane activities. But a marriage relationship is cemented in the times of heart sharing your dreams, hopes, and fears. These kinds of dialogues are birthed out of your own growth as a person. It is then you have something to contribute to the conversation. When you each know the other’s heart, you can grow in trust and vulnerability making the bond of oneness even stronger.

Delight: The Father designed sex not just for procreation. Although that is a lovely way to grow a family. He also made it for intimacy. The joining of a man and woman’s bodies together is not just a physical act, but a reminder that we truly are two people joining together as one. As you grow in your marriage, sexual intimacy will change and grow with you. But for that to happen, you must both be committed to carve out those times of togetherness and make them a priority. Besides being a spiritual rejoining of your bodies and souls, it’s just plain fun, too.

Begin by envisioning your marriage 60 years from now and then figure out what you need to do to get from here to there. Who do you need to become and how must you pour into your marriage? Marriage is a sacred companionship that can become a wonderful adventure for life.

~Jerolyn