When Kelli sent out the call looking for people to add a tale to her features on Old and Young Wives Tales, I thought “I would love too!”…. then I thought…. “ohhh I could never do that”. Why? – because I would have to go out of my comfort zone. But I did, and here I am. I have tossed topic ideas around in my head daily…. as I loaded the dishwasher or laid in bed I would compose my latest idea in my head. But it wasn’t until I typed the opening line above that I made my decision and thus changed course.
Surely a woman who has been happily married for just shy of 31 years could easily find a topic on relationships right? Or a humorous tale? Well yeah, but how to narrow it down to just one! Then it hit me as I started to type….. “Comfort Zone”. We all have them. In our relationships with our friends, spouse, jobs, homes, kids – you name it. And sometimes we even have a comfort zone with Christ. But how often do we go out of that zone in our marriage and do we still invite Jesus in as much as we promised we would all those years ago or have we gotten comfortable doing it less? After being married for an amount of time one settles in very nicely to a fairly routine level of comfort.
During our wedding ceremony the priest told us that he hoped on this day that we would love each other the least in our marriage. What? Shouldn’t I love my new husband the most on that day? Well no. As we moved through the years and fell into the comfort zone, he wanted us to love each other more than the day before so that when we got to those milestones of 10, 20, 30 plus years we would still feel the way we did the day we got married – or more so.
Sometimes comfort zones prevent us from doing things we should, or make us feel as though we can say things we really shouldn’t. Marriage comfort zones are a mix of both. Hopefully somewhere in the marriage zone there is the comfort of knowing that Christ is invited to be part of it, even if it’s not as often as we should. He’s the guest and the foundation providing the security to enjoy all the comforts of growing old together. Being comfortable with our spouse when the newness of marriage and the beauty of youth has faded adds a whole new dimension to marriage….. and a marriage that Christ is part of, makes the best comfort zone a husband and wife can have.
 |
| These are Bliss and Brawn’s beautiful children. I love big families! Thanks Bliss! I love your perspective on things and can’t wait to learn more from you! |
About Kelli Hays
