Lies Wives Believe

Prayer Matters- Part I

Dana was talking the other day about how she and her husband have never fought — not once in their two year marriage. They may have had disagreements, but he has never raised his voice, nor have they ever been truly angry at each other.

Well, that might be Dana and her husband, but that’s certainly not me and mine.

I think some women go into marriage believing that once they say “I do” that all of their dreams are going to come true. Like saying those two little words is some magic formula for instant happiness. It’s not, and I sympathize with women who find themselves suddenly waking up next to a boy with bad morning breath, holey underwear, and cold feet. The man of their dreams leaves water stains on their new tables, food caking on the dishes, and only takes the garbage out after you’ve asked him three times.

I frankly could not believe what I had gotten myself into after three months of marriage. I’m not sure exactly WHAT I was expecting, but it wasn’t what I got. I cried, I’ll admit. I cried a lot. But we refused to give up. We went to church regularly. We prayed together. We made an effort to make the marriage work.

And it has.

Hubby and I have often discussed those first “adjustment” months of marriage and often grin at newlyweds, wondering if they’re going through the same stuff we did. Of course, maybe you’re marriage is like Dana’s and is perfect. Maybe you did marry Mr. Perfect. But what happens when the bottom drops out (because, trust me, it will)?

What happens if you can’t have children?

What happens if he gets into a fight with one or both of your parents?

What happens if he loses his job?

What happens if your children get sick?

What happens if you get in a car wreck?

What happens if you just can’t get along with him any more?

There are so many “what ifs” that you could go crazy thinking of everything that COULD go wrong. Here’s the thing, though: Bad things are going to happen. It’s inevitable. So what are you going to do when the good times get rough?

Dana and her husband do not go to church. So what happens when her husband loses his job and is the main source of income in their family? What do they do then? What CAN they do?

I know immediately what I would do. It’s second nature: pray.

Hubby and I got married five days after Hurricane Katrina. And, guess what? We had just moved all of our belongings to New Orleans a month before the hurricane. Oh, yeah, that’s right. He was living with his aunt nearby, and I was staying in “our” apartment. We never even got to live in it together as husband and wife.

We actually left New Orleans to return to our wedding location, four hours away, to plan for the wedding, about three days before the hurricane evacuation notice. We had only taken one car and a couple sets of clothes. Nothing else. We didn’t realize we would need anything else.

When the levees broke and we thought we had lost everything (turns out later, thank God, we did not), I led my future husband to my old bedroom in my parents house, and we sat on my bed and prayed that God would help us through this. We needed jobs. We needed a home. We needed so much.

We called an old professor of ours from college. Within hours, he had secured jobs for both of us. I was accepted for my first “real” job over the phone. How awesome is that? My father-in-law graciously offered his home for us to stay in until we found an apartment. And, to top it all off, my father, my father-in-law, my brother-in-law, and a couple of friends returned to New Orleans to pack up all of our belongings and take it to my father-in-law’s house while we were on our honeymoon.

God brought us through the storm. I can’t imagine how I would have faced that situation without prayer and without knowing that God is there.

I can’t imagine spending those first few months as a newlywed without being able to take my burdens to God. I can’t, even now, begin to fathom how life would be if I did not pray daily.

I believe it would be a sad, hopeless life.

Loading image

Click anywhere to cancel