Will Your Kids Want A Marriage Like Yours?
By Rhonda Stoppe
My dear friend Vi was married for 42 years to Curt––who was the love of her life. When I asked Vi to tell me about how she and Curt met, she said, “We were in college, on a choir tour. I played the piano and he was going into music ministry, so we were a good fit.” Vi jokingly added, “Although, when you play the piano and you marry a minister, you’re never quite sure if he married you for love or because he needed a pianist!”
Throughout their married life Vi and Curt served the Lord in full-time ministry. Vi often referred to their marriage as a waltz through life divinely choreographed by the Lord.
Their waltz came to an end when Curt was diagnosed with cancer at age 68. As his health failed, Vi never left his side.
On the last day of his life, Curt looked to his sweetheart and said…
“Vi, am I dying?” To which Vi tearfully responded, “Yes dear––you are dying.”
And then in the joyful spirit Curt so adored, Vi whispered, “Curt, you are going home to see Jesus! What is the first thing you want to say to Him when you see His face?”
Curt closed his eyes and smiled as he considered the moment he would stand in the presence of the Lord. And then without hesitation, he looked into Vi’s gentle eyes and said:
I am going to thank Him for giving me you.
THE WALTZ
I have told Vi and Curt’s story a number of times, but I can never get through it without crying. Even now as I write this, tears are streaming down my face. Last week when I appeared on a radio program, the host read the poem Vi wrote about her marriage to Curt entitled, “The Waltz” –and we both cried together! *
We all long to have a marriage like Vi and Curt had––don’t we? A love that lasts through the tests of time. A happily-ever-after story our grandkids will tell their children about long after we are gone.
YOU’RE WRITING YOUR STORY
Psalm 90:9 says, “We spend our years as a tale that is told.” Have you ever considered the story you are writing with your life? This generation is desperate for love stories that stand the test of time.
Won’t you join the ranks of Vi and Curt, who waltzed in each other’s arms until Curt’s final breath?
A MARRIAGE YOUR KIDS WILL WANT TO EMULATE
When you learn that true joy and satisfaction is not found in a perfect marriage with a perfect person, but rather comes from your relationship with Christ, you will learn the secret to a happy marriage. **
I pray you will apply the biblical principles to your marriage relationship, and learn from older women how to love your husband with God’s perfect love. God calls the older women to teach the younger how to love their husbands. That is why I wrote my new book IF MY HUSBAND WOULD CHANGE I’D BE HAPPY & Other Myths Wives Believe––to be a personal marriage mentor. Every chapter contains wonderful love stories to give you hope for a happy marriage. The godly principles laid out in my book are helping thousands of women to build a no-regrets marriage.
I pray the Lord gives you His strength and wisdom to grow deeper in love with your husband with each passing day. And that through your example your children and grandchildren will learn the secret to a happy marriage––a #NoRegretsMarriage.
LISTEN HERE to Rhonda’s two-minute-message: Your Marriage is a Light to Your Kids
*(You can read Vi Estel’s poem in IF MY HUSBAND WOULD CHANGE I’D BE HAPPY& Other Myths Wives Believe)
** Excerpt IF MY HUSBAND WOULD CHANGE I’D BE HAPPY&Other Myths Wives Believe (Harvest House 2015 pp. 71-72)
Rhonda Stoppe is the NO REGRETS WOMAN. She is an author and speaker with more than 30 years experience dedicated to helping women live life with no regrets. Rhonda’s wisdom and experience helps women:
-Discover significance in God and His specific purpose for their lives.
-Connect biblical principles to everyday decisions.
-Develop a loving marriage that others dream about.
-Influence the next generation by raising children with integrity.
-Leave a legacy of a life well-lived with NO REGRETS!
Visit NoRegretsWoman.com to Book Rhonda for your next Women’s Event and to order her books: IF MY HUSBAND WOULD CHANGE I’D BE HAPPY & Other Myths Wives Believe, Moms Raising Sons to Be Men, A Christian Woman’s Guide to Great Sex In Marriage , I Sleep With the Pastor
