Early Morning, Early Marriage

Have you ever heard the one about?...

There are basically two types of people: those who wake up in the morning saying, “Good Morning, Lord!” And, then, there are the rest of us. We wake up in the morning thinking something more like, “Good Lord! It’s morning!”

In our marriage we have one of each. As for me, I am not by nature that much a morning person. I need a little java jolt and a whole lot of Jesus just to get out of bed. And, while I enjoy a warm cup of coffee first thing in the morning, it is my Jesus time that makes all the difference in the world. Talking to Him first and other people later is probably what gives my friends the impression that I am a morning person when I’m really not at all. I’m always shocked when they’re shocked to hear me admit what a grouch I can be.

My husband, Don, on the other hand is a morning person. Awake at “0’dark-thirty” he hops out of bed ready to go, sings in the shower, and whistles his way to work.

When we were first married, I covered my head with the covers when the alarm blared, plugged my ears when Don sang in the shower, and muttered to myself all the while he whistled his way to work.

Our early-morning struggles illustrate in a small way early-marriage struggles and the difficulty of two very different people adjusting to living together. My grumpiness in the morning was probably as much an irritation to Don as was his cheeriness to me. Over time, however, and with lots of Jesus, each of us has morphed and each of us is more like Jesus—loving selflessly and wanting the best for each other.

I cannot imagine how our relationship would have survived without Jesus in our hearts and at the heart of our marriage. He is transforming power. Just this morning, I woke up at 0’dark-thirty without an alarm and I was cheerful… really!

As for Don? He’s still over the top overjoyed. This morning, though, he didn’t whistle on his way out. Instead, he sang cheerfully and loudly, “You’ve got to get up every morning with a smile on your face and show the world all the love in your heart... ”

Jesus brings the smiles and Jesus brings the love. Jesus in our marriage makes all the difference. Without Him, there would be no morning, no song, no love.

Do you want to invite Jesus into your marriage? Why not begin with this simple prayer?

Dear Jesus,

I give all I am to all of you, today. I thank you for my marriage and ask you to bless it in every way. I invite you to come into my marriage transforming me and it from the inside out.