What Shamu Taught Me About Marriage
Amy Sutherland, in an article she wrote for the New York Times called, "What Shamu Taught Me About a Happy Marriage," expresses her frustration over her husbands irritating habits:
These minor annoyances are not the stuff of separation and divorce, but in sum they began to dull my love for Scott. I wanted—needed—to nudge him a little closer to perfect, to make him into a mate who might annoy me a little less, who wouldn't keep me waiting at restaurants, a mate who would be easier to love.
So, like many wives before me, I ignored a library of advice books and set about improving him. By nagging, of course, which only made his behavior worse: he'd drive faster instead of slower; shave less frequently, not more; and leave his reeking bike garb on the bedroom floor longer than ever.
A breakthrough came when Amy began traveling to a school for exotic animal trainers in California in order to research a book she wanted to write:
I listened, rapt, as professional trainers explained how they taught dolphins to flip and elephants to paint. Eventually it hit me that the same techniques might work on that stubborn but loveable species, the American husband.
Ms. Sutherland concludes:
The central lesson I learned from exotic animal trainers is that I should reward behavior I like and ignore behavior I don't. After all, you don't get a sea lion to balance a ball on the end of its nose by nagging. The same goes for the American husband. Back in Maine, I began thanking Scott if he threw one dirty shirt into the hamper. If he threw in two, I'd kiss him. Meanwhile, I would step over any soiled clothes on the floor without one sharp word, though I did sometimes kick them under the bed. But as he basked in my appreciation, the piles became smaller.
"Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins" (1 Peter 4:8).
The Search for the Perfect Man
Can you answer this riddle? The perfect man, the perfect woman, the tooth fairy and Santa Claus are all in a car accident. Who survives?
Answer: The perfect woman. The other three don't exist!
That doesn't stop women, the world over, from looking for him. But lost in the list of desirable characteristics posted on various women's websites and in magazines is the quality that makes all the difference. The Bible suggests that what a woman ought to be looking for is not whether her dream man has a feminine side or rock hard abs, but whether he loves just like Jesus.
"Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her" (Ephesians 5:25).
Always A Reason To Be Thankful
A cowboy was riding his stallion down a dirt road when a police officer flashed his lights and pulled him over. He said, "Sir, I have been trying to pull you over for a mile. Do you know that your wife fell off the horse, a mile down the road?" The cowboy smiled and replied, "Thank God, I thought for a moment that I had become deaf."
In every season of life, we can find a reason to be thankful!
"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28).
Additional Application:
If you're having a difficult time hearing God's voice, make sure you haven't left Him somewhere back down the road!
"The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful" (Matthew 13:22).