Love Encounter

By: John Ruzzo

Proverbs 31:10-11

When one finds a worthy wife, her value is beyond pearls. Her husband, entrusting his heart to her, has an unfailing prize. She brings him good, and not evil, all the days of her life.

My wife and I were having some problems a while back. We weren’t getting along. We seemed disconnected. We rarely made contact, except to irritate each other, or so it seemed. We resolved to go away for a long weekend and work on “us”. As much as this was needed, I wasn’t looking forward to it. My wife brought along some Marriage Encounter questions. The questions are personal and not always just about marriage. We would read a question aloud and then answered it. What a miracle! We were sharing, having a dialogue; something we hadn’t done in years. After that, we walked, talked and laughed together.

I have many opportunities to honor my wife, as well as opportunities to treat her without honor. At night she always asks me, “How was your day?” Before our weekend away, the lawyer in me would pragmatically regard that question as a request that I recount the facts of my day. I didn’t want to do this, so I would answer with, “It was OK” or some other nondescript phrase. Now I realize that she has been, and still is, asking me for a personal sharing of my feelings, not of my events.

How are my wife and I doing? We still don’t always treat one another with honor, but we are trying to do better, and we are. Will we ever have it down perfect? No. We will be a work in progress all our lives. Have you ever been hired to do a job in which nothing more was expected of you except just to show up?

TAKE THE CHALLENGE: Are you taking the time to honor and communicate with your loved ones, or are you “just showing up”? If you are married, when was the last time you prayed with or shared your deepest thoughts and feelings with your spouse? What keeps you from doing these things? This Valentine’s Day, think of a special way to honor someone you love.