{"id":60645,"date":"2007-05-01T20:55:00","date_gmt":"2007-05-02T01:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=60645"},"modified":"2023-05-01T20:57:53","modified_gmt":"2023-05-02T01:57:53","slug":"wedded-bliss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wedded-bliss\/","title":{"rendered":"Wedded Bliss"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\tby Wes Seeliger\n

Our wedding was on October 14, 1966. But our marriage began three weeks later. We were dressed up and on our way to the swankiest restaurant in town. We had saved all week for the big splurge.<\/p>\n\"\"One problem – my bride was wearing the most horrible perfume ever manufactured. Smelled like a mixture of mustard gas, black pepper, and vaporized maple syrup. I still get queasy thinking about it.\nWe had stopped at a railroad crossing. It was cold outside. The windows were up and the heater was on. My nose and lungs silently begged for mercy. But I didn’t want to upset my bride with a comment about her perfume.\nI had decided the one perfect marriage in history would be ours. No conflicts…no harsh words…no hurt feelings…no tears…nothing negative. My wife had made a similar resolution. For three weeks we had walked on eggshells, protecting each other from the slightest unpleasantness.\nDare I break the spell? Dare I be honest and open? She had soaked in that awful stuff every day of our marriage. I knew I couldn’t hold out forever. So I said in my sweetest, softest voice, “Honey, that perfume smells like bug spray.”\nSilence! Like the silence that must have followed President Roosevelt’s announcement that the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbour. I stared straight ahead trying to concentrate on the steady metallic rhythm of the train cars rolling by.\nI glanced at my bride out of the corner of my eye. Her lower lip was quivering slightly. The way it still does when she’s fighting a good cry. We drove on.\nAfter an eternity she mumbled softly, “I won’t use that brand again.” Any married person can finish the story. We choked down our gourmet dinner. Pouted. Went through the “It’s all my fault, Honey” routine. Shed tears. And were finally reconciled, promising never to be cross with each other again. The whole episode is now part of our family lore. Our repertory of delightful “young and dumb” stories.\nBut I still think our marriage began with my observation about the perfume. At that point, we began to grow. We discovered marriage is a union stronger than emotions<\/strong>.\u00a0We began to drop the foolishness about unruffled bliss<\/strong>.\u00a0We took our first steps toward learning that one all-important lesson, a lesson no one ever outgrows – love is a death-resurrection relationship<\/strong>.\nAs for the perfume…I sprayed the rest on roaches. It worked!\n

“Love suffers long and is kind…”<\/em>\u00a0(I Corinthians 13:4).<\/p>\n

“Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm; for love is as strong as death, jealousy as cruel as the grave; its flames are flames of fire, a most vehement flame. Many waters cannot quench love, nor can the floods drown it. If a man would give for love all the wealth of his house, it would be utterly despised<\/em>” (Song of Solomon 8:6-7).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Wes Seeliger Our wedding was on October 14, 1966. But our marriage began three weeks later. We were dressed up and on our way to the swankiest restaurant in town. We had saved all week for the big splurge. One problem – my bride was wearing the most horrible perfume ever manufactured. Smelled like…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[64],"class_list":["post-60645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-marriage"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":21597,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-a-child-bride-really-married\/","url_meta":{"origin":60645,"position":0},"title":"Is a child bride really married?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 5, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Recently I was participating in a discussion with several Christians regarding biblical divorce. One of the group members brought up the marriage of young girls in Third World cultures, such as Afghanistan or Pakistan. From what we have read these girls are sold into marriage by their fathers or\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":59806,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/so-you-married-the-wrong-person\/","url_meta":{"origin":60645,"position":1},"title":"So You Married the Wrong Person?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 10, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Tanner Campbell The statements: \"I don't love you anymore,\" and \"I think I married the wrong person\" we all recognize. They are commonly said at the end of a failed marriage. It is no secret that many marriages fail in the world and a number of them fail among\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":46198,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/am-i-really-married-since-the-marriage-traditions-in-my-community-are-contrary-to-gods-laws\/","url_meta":{"origin":60645,"position":2},"title":"Am I really married since the marriage traditions in my community are contrary to God’s laws?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 29, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Dear Brother, Thank you for the important site you have created in order to answer those questions that affect Christians' lives. I live in a community where people are influenced by traditional superstition and idolatry. I found out that our tradition of marriage is as far as heaven from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":68465,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/jesus-the-bridegroom\/","url_meta":{"origin":60645,"position":3},"title":"Jesus, the Bridegroom","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 20, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer God created Adam and Eve to be husband and wife, cleaving to each other in faithfulness (Genesis 2:24). Here is the beginning of marriage, but marriage was not meant to be an end in itself. Marriage is intended to point to something even greater: God and His\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":20229,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/since-i-had-sex-with-my-girlfriend-does-this-mean-i-am-married-to-her\/","url_meta":{"origin":60645,"position":4},"title":"Since I had sex with my girlfriend, does this mean I am married to her?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 21, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello brother. Thank you for the good web site and for the questions and answers that you have posted. I have a question and a problem that I want you to help me to solve. I have been dating a girl for three years. She has been really close\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":47773,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-i-get-married-without-a-bride-price-being-paid\/","url_meta":{"origin":60645,"position":5},"title":"Should I get married without a bride price being paid?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 27, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, my brother, I am told your bride price must be paid before marriage and you can get married before your bride price is paid. My question is I want to get married and be clean before God because I have children with my fianc\u00e9 and we are not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60645"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60645\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}