Riff's Christian Journal

On the 3rd of January in 1969 I met Mary for the first time. Sixty five days later we were married. It has been forty-six years now since that day took place and it was the best decision I ever made.

As God has stated and as Jesus has confirmed, marriage was ordained by God to be between one man and one woman.

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” Genesis 2:24

God speaks in praise of a wife as we read in the following verses from Proverbs 31 and Proverbs 5.

Proverbs 31

¹⁰ Who can find a virtuous wife?
   For her worth is far above rubies.
¹¹ The heart of her husband safely trusts her;
   So he will have no lack of gain.
¹² She does him good and not evil
    All the days of her life.

²⁷ She watches over the ways of her household,
   And does not eat the bread of idleness.
²⁸ Her children rise up and call her blessed;
    Her husband also, and he praises her:
²⁹ “Many daughters have done well,
     But you excel them all.”
³⁰ Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing,
    But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.

Proverbs 5

¹⁸ Let your fountain be blessed,
   And rejoice with the wife of your youth.
¹⁹ And always be enraptured with her love.

My wife can definitely meet these statements, and more. I am more in love with my Mary now than at any time from when we first met back in 69. We have had our ups and downs, have been in sickness and mostly in good health, and we have even experienced poverty and in being in a state of not wanting or lacking anything that we needed. Even the desires of our hearts have been met as God has seen desirable to fulfill them.

When we put ourselves in the hands of God, and do as He says regarding life, much can be said of His blessing on the people who are willing to be obedient to His ways. God has given us His guidelines for what a marriage should be and anything outside of those limits He will not bless. For how can God go against His own laws of living life as He wills. To do so is to make a mockery of His knowledge and wisdom. Can man be more wise than God? Then why are we willing to seek what we want and not what He says is the right thing to do.

God put Mary and I together those many years ago and He has kept us together all along the way. We have been blessed by Him, guided by Him and loved by Him. What God has joined together, as He has with us, let not man separate.

I am still in love with the wife of my youth and I am still enraptured with her love. Her beauty is still as the first day that we met and my love for her is greater than ever. Yes, I have found a “virtuous” woman and I have been blessed with love far greater than anyone could dream. In fact, she was, and still is, the girl of my dreams.

My wife does fear the Lord, in ways that pleases God, and for that she does deserve praise. That is the reason for this post. As it is indeed written to be in praise of my wife…