"All the Single Ladies..."

"...Now put your hands up!" You know the song. It is always in my head!! Every one of us is waiting for that perfect moment -- when he 'puts a ring on it' and we pledge our lives to our special someone. So, I was thinking about that perfect day while I was watching a show on EWTN about the single life called the Road to Cana. The program features discussions on how singles can live their lives in preparation for marriage, whether you've met 'the one' or are still waiting for that person. I only caught a little bit of it, but what I caught really got me thinking.

The speakers were talking about how we expect our future husbands and wives to accept us the way we are. And that's good, they should love us for everything that we are. But there's a down side too. Let me give you a scenario. Your husband comes in drunk from a guy's night out, and you start yelling at him for being so irresponsible. After all, he is supposed to be up early to take the kids to school. He retorts to you, "Well, this is just the way I am. And why do you always nag at me anyway?" You angrily reply, "Well this is just the way I am."

But what does that mean -- 'this is just the way I am?" Your husband just told you that he is a drunk. And you just told him that you are a nag. But those aren't good things at all. After all, when Christ used the words 'I am,' it signifies the core of His Being -- He is the Great I AM.

So what are we to be? For those of us who are called to the married life, whether or not we're there yet, seek to be a good wife (or husband for our male readers). What does it mean to be a good spouse? We need to be the very best of ourselves. Of course, perfection does not come in this life, but we can surely rely on Christ to fill in our empty slots. We're a work in progress to be sure, but we'd better both working and in progress.

So I need to be the best possible Edith I can be for my future husband. I need to center my relationship in Christ and ask Him to be the head. With Christ at the head, my future spouse and I can surely work on becoming the best of ourselves for Him and for each other. So let's all take a challenge: the next time you tell your significant other or even just one of your good friends that they have to deal with the way you are, think about the reality of what that really means...and challenge yourself to really be the best you in every relationship you have, be it friendship, professional, or spousal.

Photo found here.