Your Marriage, Your Future, and a Holy Imagination: A 5-Day Reading PlanSample

Day 4: Celebrate the Markers

Our lives were meant to be enjoyed and celebrated, and the marriage covenant is intended to encourage couples to share in the highs and lows. That’s why it’s essential to mark your progress, no matter how small, and celebrate.

Psalm 118:24 calls us to rejoice and be glad in the day the Lord has made. Ecclesiastes 3:4 reminds us that there is a time to weep and a time to laugh. Recognizing and celebrating the markers in our marriages, even the smallest victories, shifts our focus from present struggles to the joy of the moment and fosters hope for the future.

It’s always easier to see and celebrate the moments in hindsight; however, we want you to experience the joy that comes from recognizing the little victories at the moment and give yourself the gift of celebrating how God is working in your marriage.

The truth about a marriage covenant, similar to our relationships with God and others, is that sometimes there is an ease of operation, and other times it can feel like monotony or, worse, drudgery. I want hope to rise in you that it does not have to stay this way. You will get through seasons that feel never-ending and monotonous or hard and challenging and move into seasons where there is more joy. Put another way, celebrating even the smallest win pulls our eyes and hearts away from our past and present struggles and gives us joy in the present and more hope for the future.

In celebrating the markers, call things good when they are good, and don’t move on too quickly. Spend time being grateful for what’s going right, and grant yourself the pleasure of imagining more wonderful things to come.

Reflect

What has happened today or this week that is worth celebrating? What might celebrating more—of even the smallest wins—do for my heart and mind? What might it do for my marriage?

Prayer

Dear God, thank You for the gift of another day. Give me eyes to see all of the wonderful things happening around me, and grant me a joyful, grateful spirit.