“Remember, marriage is 50/50. “The one piece of advice Nick and I heard repeatedly before we got married. But I distinctly remember one very important man in my life changing my view on marriage with one simple conversation.
“Lacie Poo, life is full of ups and downs, disappointments, loss, heartaches, failures, successes, love, and life. We all fail, and we all rise but at the end of the day, you and Nick are one. When he fails, you will be his success. When you’re down, he will lift you up. When there is death, each of you will give the other life. Marriage has never been 50/50…. it’s 100/100. Today you may be able to give 75% and Nick only 25% but tomorrow you may be only able to give 10% and you’ll need his 90%. If you both only focus on marriage being 50/50 you will miss out on a lot of love and successes as a married couple. If you love God first, give 100%, and choose each other over and over again…. your marriage won’t fail.” – Granddaddy, Joe Reaves 6-27-2014, Rehearsal Dinner
Wow! How true were my Granddaddy’s words? I never realized how right he was until the very next year. Infertility hit us like a ton of bricks and for months I barely gave one percent. I was shattered and heartbroken with my diagnoses, but over and over again Nick picked me back up and gave 99% when I only had one.
How different would marriages be if both the husband and wife agreed to this concept? If we ALL realize that men need to be treated like kings just like women expect to be treated like queens.
In 2019 alone, 50% of marriages ended in divorce. Could this be because God is not the head of every household? Could this be because the wife demands to be respected but does not offer the same to her husband or vice versa? Is it because the wife and/or husband is only giving 50% instead of 100%? The answers are unknown but I bet if we get back to the basic and stop worrying so much about our outward appearance and trying to “keep up with The Joneses” we could focus more on the true fundamentals of a solid foundation to make any marriage successful.
My Granddaddy’s advice has stuck with me for 6 years. Is marriage easy? NO! Is our marriage perfect? Absolutely not…but it’s perfect to us. Yes, we have disagreements and failures. But we choose each other over and over again, never degrade one another, and are never to prideful to acknowledge when we are wrong. God set the firm foundation for our marriage to grow and every day we honor Him by doing our best to give 100%.
“Your marriage is powerful in the Lord because two are better than one. You can lift each other up when one feels weak. “-Ecclesiastes 4:10
Lacie 