Beautiful Reminder

My husband and I wanted to add a little color to our patio, so we bought these flowers. I bought a cute little table and chair set for my birthday, and we wanted to pick up some flowers for the finishing touch. Little did we know when we bought them that they would be more than just a decoration.

Shortly after purchasing these flowers, I asked Nathan to be in charge of taking care of them. I love the way plants look. There is only one problem...

I kill every plant that is mine.

For whatever reason, I struggle to keep plants alive. So, I asked Nathan if he would be in charge of the task. He was sweet and agreed to taking care of our flowers. Every morning, I'd watch him walk outside on his way to work, look at these flowers, examine to see if they needed water, and make sure they were tended to.

Day after day, I noticed the same routine in my husband. He never forgot to water these flowers. At one point, he was concerned that the plant was dying because there were no buds on it. It was green, but the flowers were gone. I encouraged him that the plant was still alive since it was green and it'd probably just take a little more time for new buds to form. Even when he couldn't see the buds, he continued to water and tend to the plant. Then it happened. Buds galore! I'm not talking about one or two buds. I'm saying there were all of a sudden eleven buds on this plant. It started taking off.

I watched the excitement on my husband's face as he got to see the results of his continual watering and tending to this plant.

About a week ago, Nathan shared something with me that made my heart melt. He told me, "Every time I water this plant, I am reminded of the marriage conference we just went to that shared how marriage is like a cotton field that has to be tended to every day. You can't miss a day or it'll die. I'm reminded every time I water these flowers that I need to work on our marriage."

What started out as a patio decoration turned into a marriage reminder.

As I continued to think about this heart-melting statement Nathan shared with me, I couldn't help but write a devotional and share it with you.

My husband is right! Marriage requires tending to, watering, and taking care of... EVERY DAY!

If Nathan wouldn't have been faithful to water our flowers, they would not look they do in the picture above. They would've wilted, turned brown, and eventually died. New buds would not have formed, and what could've been so beautiful would've been an ugly mess without the daily tending to.

The same is true in our marriages.

It's easy to make excuses for us not investing in our marriages. Sometimes we look at them and think they're going well so we can put them on hold for a time and they'll survive. However, a marriage cannot thrive unless there is daily watering, tending to, and taking care of.

Colossians 3:23 says, "Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men..." Little did I know when this verse came to mind for this devotional that just a few verses before, husbands and wives are being addressed. Colossians 3:18-19 says, "Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them."

Have you been tending to your marriage lately?

If so, I encourage you to keep it up! If not, I encourage you to begin today.

Some things I've found helpful in my own marriage to help keep it well tended to and watered are:

• Going to church together
• Praying together
• Reading Christian marriage books together
• Being in a lifegroup at church with other married couples we can grow and learn with
• Dating each other even after marriage
• Finding out one another's love language and learning how to speak that love language (Read Gary Chapman's book "The 5 Love Languages" to learn more)
• Constantly refocusing our attention to eternity instead focusing on the temporary

All of these things have helped Nathan's and my marriage. I pray they'll help yours too.

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank you for the beautiful reminder You provided for my husband and I through what originally started off being a patio decoration. Thank You for helping our marriage thrive by teaching us every day how to water and tend to it. I pray that You'll continue to grow us, shape us, and mold us into the people You want us to be. In Jesus' Name.

Amen.