ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Hello and welcome to the first Mount Olive Lutheran Church, Austin, Texas blog. My name is Lori Prehar and I’m honored to have you visit. But first, let me tell you how God gave me this awesome opportunity to connect with you today.
A couple of months ago, I was minding my own business in Duxbury, MA, trying to figure out where our fifth child would sleep when he arrived in January. The phone rang and my husband told me he had just been offered his dream job –in Austin, Texas! One month later, we found ourselves and our four children (ages 2, 4, 6 and 8 ) packed in the car, traveling 30 hours to our new adventure.
My husband found Mount Olive through a dear friend’s referral. One Sunday morning the pastor made an announcement looking for help creating an Advent Devotional written by the congregants. I inquired, the pastor encouraged me, made the proper introductions and I got to pursue a life long dream of writing! I thought, “How blessed am I?” Well God didn’t stop there! Mount Olive wanted to start a blog and asked if I could help. “ME? OH MY GOSH!! YES!!” And here I am! I’m delighted to have your eyes and hope I can hug your heart with words grounded in faith. I pray to be the conduit with you and our Lord each time we “meet.”
In country music sensation Taylor Swift’s super hit Love Story, she sings “Romeo, save me.” Yikes! That puts a lot of pressure on poor Romeo. “You’ll be the prince and I’ll be the princess”? Are we living at Disney World or in reality? Once upon a time….and they lived happily ever after” I think that pretty much sums up our culture’s view of love and marriage. Hollywood tells us we’re entitled to the fairytale. We are urged to “Say Yes to the Dress.” Huge television franchises have been built around the premise of “bachelors” and “bachelorettes” fiercely competing to win a rose and a marriage proposal from someone they hardly know. Prince Charming or Tom Brady, Snow White or Giselle – what’s the difference? And if it doesn’t work out, no problem! Just trade discontent for a better spouse, better house, or something that mimics what we thought marriage was BEFORE we walked down the aisle. But come on people, to host the dream wedding but forget to invite our Heavenly Father to the big day would be just having an overpriced party. Don’t be fooled-it will vanish. Because it’s just worldly happiness, it comes with an expiration date. Look how it turned out for poor Romeo and Juliet!
“He/She is perfect!” Sometimes we buy it, don’t we? We want that effortless bliss where love is easy, life ideal, all our selfish needs are met and adversity is something we only see on the evening news. Oh that crafty Satan! If we only aspire to things of this world, we never truly tap into the happiness God has for us. Our Lord hardwired us to have a need for His love that ONLY He call fill. Our spouse is our gift from HIM. And remember, when we get married, God expects it to be forever – like into the next life forever. He calls us to spend the rest of our days on earth with one person and love them, even when they aren’t being particularly lovable. He promises, if you lean on Him, He will get the two of you through absolutely anything this fallen world throws your way.
You promised in front of everyone you adore and more importantly, in front of God, to love one another in sickness and in health, for richer and for poorer, in good times and in bad. You can access our Creator’s powers and strength any time of day or night because He’s in this marriage as much as you are. Like a braided rope, you will be stronger together, as long as you remember He’s the strongest part of the equation. I’m not saying it’s all going to be rosy or a fairytale – neither is He. His ways are not our ways. He asks us to live by our wedding vows and honor one another all the days of our lives, not just the sunny ones. He asks us to put their needs above our own. Consider going through your vows this Valentine’s Day. Replay that video that cost you thousands and listen carefully to the words you both spoke.
The bad times, the poorer days and the sickness mentioned in our wedding vows WILL happen. God doesn’t pull any punches. Marriage isn’t a bait and switch. But He promises NEVER to leave you. He will stand with you each and every day until death parts you. Lean on that next time Satan whispers something selfish in your ear.
When we join lives with our chosen “Prince Charming” or “Queen of Hearts” and settle in to daily life, do we keep ourselves and our behavior in check and treat them like, well, royalty? Are you holding up your end of the bargain? Do you treat him or her like they are only trumped by The King of Kings Himself? I know for me, I fall short of such noble and upstanding behavior often. I take God’s gift to me and many times hand him all my LEAST favorite parts, instead of reserving my most flattering parts for him. I have learned I have to work at it – it’s more than worth it. My faith has sustained me when I wasn’t “happy” and I have learned to aspire to what is Holy. Our commitment is forever, like into the next life forever. I have prayed a lot and realize we are a work in progress, but God absolutely, unequivocally knows what He’s doing.
Troy and I were at a Bible study in Boston where the Married Couples Ministry studied Genesis. You can imagine the guys broke into a sweat when a woman took issue that Eve was “just designed to be a helper.” The tension was broken when one man said, “I’ve never understood why women take issue with that. After God spent some time with Adam He said to Himself ‘Oh man, this guy’s gonna need some help’.”
God perfectly designed women to fall into a role in the man’s life that the man could not fill alone. Just like Jerry Maguire said, “You complete me.” That was our Lord’s intention – “the two will become one” means a lot when you stop and think about it. One is not better. It’s two very different skill sets and together we balance out God’s love-one masculine and one feminine. Perfectly designed! We have to always remember that truth, and not sell out to the lies Satan and the world has spent forever feeding us.
February 14th doesn’t have to be the only day you celebrate your love each year! Acknowledge the gift God has given you – your forever Valentine!
