Prior to becoming a full-time, stay-at-home mom, I was a florist. Our shop's specialty, was weddings. We decorated many, many weddings every year, so when it was my time to get married, I knew exactly what I wanted. Because I'm frugal, and always have been, we were married on a pretty tight budget, but our wedding was perfect! It was exactly what we wanted and it turned out better than I dreamed. I remember the excitement as we prepared for our wedding. I could not wait to be married! In fact, we moved our wedding date up a month and tried to move it up two months, because we were just ready to be husband and wife. We weren't just awaiting our wedding day, we were excited and looking forward to our marriage.
That's where we begin in Song of Solomon: the courtship, the time of excitedly waiting on the marriage itself. If you are married, take this time to think back of that special time of engagement. Be truthful as you look at these passages and ask yourself if you still have those butterflies for your husband the way you did before you were married. Think of all the things that drew you to him, and ask God to awaken those thoughts again. The Shulamite maiden is very open about her feelings for her man. She names the things that attracted her to him: his lips, his love, his lotion (fragrance/smell), and his pure lifestyle. (chapter 1, verses 2-3) What is it that attracted you to your husband? Don't forget those things and let your hubby know how much you love him and share with him the things that still attract you to him. I was captured immediately by my husband with his sense of humor, determination, musical talent, his blond arm hair and strong calf muscles. Yep, you heard me correctly. Physically, I looked for blond arm hair and nice calves, and let me tell you, I got the best! I've known my handsome hubby for 20 years and we are about to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary and to this very day he still has the sexiest calves and most beautiful arm hair I have ever seen! :) Moving on, this young woman shared the desire of her heart to become the king's wife in every way (chapter 1, verse 4). And like so many of us, she worried about her complexion, her outward beauty (chapter 1, verses 5-6). Of course we want to take care of ourselves and always be attractive to our husbands but let's remember it's not just our outward beauty that makes us attractive to him. Our attitudes, our actions, our responses and our words should be "beautiful" as well. After a few years of marriage, it can become easy to let our guard down both physically and inwardly as we become more "comfortable" with our hubbies. Let us strive to not fall into that hole. The words of affirmation were not just one sided. Solomon spoke very highly of his bride-to-be as well (chapter 1, verses 8-17). His love was so evident in the way he talked about her and how beautiful he thought she was. I encourage each of us to be very generous with our words of affirmation to our husbands. Affirming our husbands, in all areas of his life (work, fatherhood, marriage, friendships, ministry, etc.) can only bless him. Several times, the young woman urges the other women to remain pure until marriage. She shares earnestly her own desires to be with her husband-to-be, but strives to be pure for him and she does, indeed, wait until they are married. They both openly express their love for one another and their desires to be together (chapter 2). Remember how a small disagreement during your engagement could be easily overlooked, but after a few years of marriage we tend to let the small things become huge. Don't let the "little foxes" all the little disagreements, frustrations, tensions, consume you. Learn to resolve them quickly and choose to let them go so that they don't become big problems. (chapter 2, verse 15) God designed marriage to be between one man and one woman. And here in Song of Solomon we see the beauty of this union when we choose to do things God's way. Marriage is meant to be beautiful. It is intended to be an example of Jesus and the church. My prayer is that each of our marriages become that beautiful picture. May each of us wives, do our part to strengthen our marriages through loving, caring and respecting our husbands. And to those ladies who are single, I encourage you to pray for your future husband. Pray that God brings him into your life at the right time and pray for a strong, healthy, happy, Biblical marriage filled with love, grace, respect and Jesus. And, as hard as it may be, strive for purity. When we marry, we give our whole selves to our husbands: our past, present, and future. "My lover is mine, and I am his." ~ Song of Solomon 2:16a Keep reading God's Word! Joyfully His, Andrea
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For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. " AuthorHi! I'm Andrea, wife to my handsome hubby, homeschooling mama to my 7 amazing blessings, and daughter of the King of kings. I am so glad you have stopped by my little piece of the web. My prayer is that the Lord will use this blog to encourage you in your personal, daily walk with Christ. Archives
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