Why must marriage be anything but good?

Each day of my job I get to build relationships with the physicians and office staff that I call on, and because I only see them once every two weeks it is a slow process.  One of the easiest topics to talk about is the fact that I am a newlywed :)  Many of my offices remember me, because I got married and left for my honeymoon after only calling on them once!  Each time I go in I get the question of "how is married life?" and I happily reply "WONDERFUL!!!"  The response I get a lot of times is "Wait a bit, that will end" and I joke that I will be looking out for that.

Lately though I have been thinking, why do people place the expectation on marriage that at some time it will stop being wonderful?  I do not mean to say that marriage is not hard work or that there will not be days where arguements take place, but why do some feel that there is a point in every marriage where it stops being an amazing experience and becomes a burden?

I believe that there has to be a commitment to making your marriage be a place of love, acceptance, forgiveness, and growth.  At church on Sunday Pastor Mark shared a story of conjoined twins who were joined at the heart and he stated "Since separation is not an option cooperation becomes an obligation."  This is the mindset that we should enter into marriage with.  Marriage is not a temporary high that goes away, it is a committment to another person that should always be honored.  It is work and dedication, but at the same time it can be a place of great love and beauty.  In order to be at that place, we must work on our marriage diligently and not let separation enter our minds.

Matthew 12:25 states, "...Any kingdom at war with itsef is doomed.  A city or home divided against itself is doomed."  This is what stands to happen to marriage when both parties are not fully committed to cooperation and working to build a strong, loving bond between them that cannot be destroyed.  Marriage does not have to be a union that ends up bad no matter what, but our choices can lead it to that place or they can lead it in a healthy direction.

I apologize for the randomness of this entry, but it has been on my heart for a while and I wanted to share it :)  Happy Wednesday