Living Room Reset w/Kirk CameronSample

“I dated her, married her, told her I loved her. It’s been 20 years. If I change my mind, I’ll let her know.” No points for that guy! Anyone reading this ever thought something like this secretly (or even verbalized it...which I’m guessing didn’t end well for you)? Any ladies out there ever been on the receiving or giving end of this type of attitude? Let’s talk about this.

Look back at the opening statement... what’s wrong with it? A gold star for whoever said, “He’s taking her for granted.” Do you think your spouse would say you take him/her for granted... or that you cherish being together? I have even met some Christian couples who have made the mistake of thinking that their spouse would never leave them since they know “God hates divorce.” They end up neglecting their spouse, and to their shock, find themselves with a “Dear John letter,” alone, and full of regret. 

A friend told me a true story that has stuck with him for over 20 years, and it goes something like this. A man and his wife, Cindy, were living life as usual. Going through their day, watching life pass by from this little rock we live on as it goes around the sun, year, after year, after year. Their marriage seemed healthy, and they loved each other to the max, but there was this one thing that drove him up the wall about Cindy. We all can have our pet peeves, and this was his; no matter how many decades he asked his wife to stop doing this one thing, she continued to do it, day after day, year after year. He struggled with how annoyed he felt at her, but nothing compared to the way he reacted on the 18th of November. Nearly every day of their married lives, she left her slippers right there in the middle of the floor, in front of the bathroom door, for him to trip over. No amount of effort could change her habit, and there those slippers were every morning, staring at him, mocking him, taunting him. It lit him up. Every. Single. Day. Except for the 18th of November. 

On that fateful morning, he woke up and walked right past the bathroom door, and FINALLY, there were no slippers to trip him. That day, it was a slipperless doorway, free of the daily frustration that had harassed him all those years. But today he wanted nothing more in life than to trip over those silly slippers. He longed to see them there that day, because, on the 17th of November, Cindy passed away. Those slippers no longer annoy him, and it crushes him every single morning. 

This little story wrecks me. It makes me think about that quote, “Enjoy the little things in life, for one day you’ll look back and realize they were the big things.” 

So let me leave you with this encouragement; cherish your spouse. Love him/her with everything you have every day. Look past the trivial, the annoying, and the frustrating and love like today is your first and last day together. 

Live It Out: answer this question instantly; don’t think about it. If you just found out that you only had a few hours left with your spouse, and those hours would be spent right where you are today, what would you do first? Would you simply hold your spouse close? Tell him/her how much you love and cherish them?, Take her/him on a date?, Let the world know how amazing she is or a million other things he does? Do it today. There’s no reason not to, and there are a billion reasons to do it.