Free Advice! (To anyone willing to listen...)

Day 8, Wednesday: A piece of advice you have for others. Anything at all.

I've driven past a church that had a quote on it's marquee a few times and it said something to the effect of:

"A happy marriage is the effect of two good forgivers"

I'm not sure if these were the exact words, but this is a quote I found by Robert Quillen while searching for the phrase. When I read the church sign, I started thinking about how true it is. I definitely think a successful and long lasting marriage is made of two forgivers. Marriage, like life, cannot always be happy. There's ups and downs and the hopefully you realize the downs just make the ups seem better. Or at least they should make you more appreciative of them.

Along with that, we are all human. We make mistakes. A lot of times we hurt those closest to us. Whether it's because we take them for granted or they're convenient or we feel as if we don't have to put on airs in front them but we do others, the bottom line is sometimes we're not nice to the people who are around us most often.

The very people we have chosen as our life's mate.

So we forgive. And that is my advice. Be quick to forgive your husband or wife.

I got Paul the "Chief" CD by Eric Church last summer so we could listen to it on the motorcycle and his favorite song quickly became "She Loves Me Like Jesus Does" I cherish those memories. The meaning of the song, that we can both forgive each other and love one another to the point of sacrifice, is a powerful thing.

My favorite line in the song is-

She carries me when my sins make me heavy.

It reminds me of what Paul and I have done for one another over the 16 years we've been together. Haven't we all been burdened by our mistakes? Isn't it nice to have someone carry some of that load?
So work together, say "I'm sorry" more and when you say "I forgive you,"  mean it.

If you're not familiar with the song, here is the link to the beautiful rendition Eric Church did on the ACM's this year:

Desktop Link Eric Church-She Loves Me Like Jesus Does
Mobile  Link  Eric Church- She Loves Me Like Jesus Does