Gerald & Evelyn Smith
Married: May 2, 1946
Oklahoma City, OK
Gerald and Evelyn met soon after Gerald returned from World War II. Evelyn was renting a duplex from his parents, and Gerald came to fix the oven. "He just wouldn't leave, so I asked him to supper," says Evelyn. "He still wouldn't leave- so I married him."
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Life's storms are capable of generating powerful winds. Business layoffs, family illnesses or injuries, financial crises, time pressures, break downs in close relationships, problems at work, misunderstandings at home- all these, and some windstorms far more devasting, threaten to snap a marriage in two and bring it crashing to the ground if a couple is unable to endure the gust.
If your marriage is to survive, you must possess a kind of supple strength. Flexibilty is an important component of this quality; however, the ability to bend under pressure does not come from abandoning principles and convictions. Rather, it comes from trusting God and submitting to His will for your lives. And true strength is found, not by drawing from some inner personal reserve nor by leaning too heavily on each other, but by sinking roots deeper and deeper into your trust in the promises of God, and together relying on Him to come through for you. A marriage thus secured will never be broken apart or uprooted.
Sometimes supple strength involves a willingness to adapt to change. It means letting go of circumstances you are trying to control and leaving the outcome to God. When the storm finally clears, the landscape around you may be drastically altered, but your marriage remains intact, standing firm, and continues to thrive in tis new environment.
Are there places you need to bend in your marriage?
Blessed the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green.
Jeremiah 17:7-8
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