Marriage - And Other Great Experiments

After over 20 years of marriage, I'm pretty sure Richie and I are past the probationary period. Ours happens to be a marriage experiment gone very right. Twenty plus years and we still like each other. We're going for a record.

I'm sorry to say that I have seen some of those "Frankenstein" kinds of marriage experiments. Have you ever seen one of those situations where Mr. Nitro marries Ms. Glycerin? Seems everyone near them ends up with smoking hair and no eyebrows. Take cover! Explosive marriage incoming! I'd sooner camp out in the lab of a vision-impaired nuclear physicist. 

Genesis 2:23-24 tells us about the first mysterious marriage experiment. "The man said, 'This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, 'for she was taken out of man.' For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh." Now that's one "out there" kind of experiment. The example seems to suggest taking two individuals from different families, different backgrounds- even different genders--and making them one. Intriguing hypothesis. Could that really work?

There is a secret formula. (In a real Frankenstein-type movie I wouldn't be able to resist inserting maniacal laughter here.) This formula is the one surefire way to have a successful outcome to your marriage experiment. It doesn't take a scientist to figure this one out, but the equation goes something like this: All parts Jesus + Zero parts me = Successful marriage. Summed up, it means submitting all to Jesus. 

Ephesians 5 teaches us that marriage is a picture of Christ's relationship with and his love for his bride, the church. He wants us to walk in him through every step of the marriage experiment--from hypothesis to conclusion. 

In that same chapter in Ephesians, verse 21, we're instructed to "Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ."  As a husband and wife give over their rights and their own desires to Christ, then as they honor Christ by submitting to and loving one another, a metamorphosis takes place. It's a zillion times more dramatic than bringing Frankenstein to life. The Lord brings a marriage to life. (It's alive!) Only instead of something ugly, Jesus makes that marriage into something very beautiful. The marriage becomes a picture of his grace--a picture of his love for the church. Now that's a miracle!

My children will very likely be teased mercilessly. They're in a dwindling number of kids who are not from dysfunctional families. I guess my husband and I are depriving them of a "normal" childhood. Not only are they not like most kids, but what in the world are they going to cook up to share with their therapists someday? At least the other kids can blame everything on their parents' bad marriages. Oh, the humanity. 

Maybe by then there will be a special support group: "The AACNDF" (The Association of Adult Children of Non-Dysfunctional Families). I hope, by God's grace, my children will be lifelong members. 

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Contributed by Rhonda Rhearrhea@juno.comRhonda Rhea writes for dozens of great Christian publications and speaks at conferences and events across the country. You can find her new book, Amusing Grace, at your local Christian bookstore. Rhonda's husband, Richie Rhea, is a pastor in Troy, Missouri. You can reach them through her Web site atwww.rhondarhea.net