“Then Hannah prayed and said, “My heart exults in the Lord; My horn is exalted in the Lord, My mouth speaks boldly against my enemies, Because I rejoice in Your salvation. 1 Samual 2:1
When the Majestic Princess set sail from Fort Lauderdale that Friday morning in April, it was quite the party. Her 3,600 passengers and even most of her 1,300 crew were excited about the transatlantic voyage that would relocate the ship to Europe for the summer sailing season. Everyone, or mostly everyone, was excited about exploring the ship, trying the food in the Marketplace buffet and listening to the music that seemed to be pouring from every corner of the ship.
And, so we sailed, and sailed and sailed. Amazingly it never got boring but it did become somewhat routine. I guess you could call it a new normal. After a week of sailing we bumped in the Azores and a couple of days later we bumped into the European continent. Then we sailed on for a couple of more days and landed in France and the next day we reached, for the first time, our final destination–Southhampton. Now, even though we booked our journey as one continuous 25 day cruise, in reality the cruise line counted as two. The first part ended at Southhampton and the second part also started there.
At Southhampton we lost 2,600 passengers and boarded 1,400 newbies. So, to the do the math for you, we had about a 1,000 of us who started the journey in Fort Lauderdale and stayed aboard and we gained about 1,400 that started there at Southhampton. And let me tell you–those two groups were way different in their reactions to the trip. Those of us who had already been on the ship for about 14 days just sorta yawned at all the chaos while the newbie were as exited as we had been back in Fort Lauderdale. For all of them, it was like Christmas morning. It was almost humorous to watch them run from place to place, dance like no one was watching and load their plates to the edges at the newly discovered buffet. Yup, they were genuinely excited.
Now it wasn’t that we oldies weren’t excited, its just that all of the routines were, well, routine. The new had become old and the uncommon common–mostly we had lost the expectation and excitement of the newness of the journey. It wasn’t good or bad it was just the way it was. Now I suppose that is ok for a 25 day cruise but there are times when it isn’t. Like in your marriage–like in your relationship with Jesus. Write this one down–you don’t ever want the freshnesses, the excitement to leave your two most important relationships–the one with your spouse and the one with your Savior. Do whatever you need to do to keep the air in the balloon and the aroma in this bouquet called life.
While there is no magic formula for this I know it includes words and actions. Tell your spouse often and sincerely how much you love them. Try and serve up a regular serving of acts of kindness every day. And for Jesus–well, its not much different. Tell Him everyday how much you love Him and are grateful for Him. And then serve Him faithfully everyday too. Be sure He knows and others know just how much you care. If you ever since the excitement fading, be sure and do something–quickly. After all, marriages and Jesus both thrive in the arena of love. Depend on them and depend on Him. Let them know that you are leaning on them…because in their own way…they’ve got it. Bro. Dewayne
Grits with Grace 