You know what I’ve noticed lately?

Kevin and I are in a sweet spot.

In the ebbs and flows of marriage, we happen to be flowing right now, and I love it. Things aren’t always wine and roses in our relationship. Just like any other, we go through periods when we don’t communicate as well, or things feel a little distant. We’re fortunate that those times are few and far between, and for that I’m grateful. But one thing that’s occurred to me is that the distant times aren’t always wrapped around something hard going on in our lives. It’s actually the challenges that seem to pull us together.

Yesterday, as we were working on answering questions for our non-profit exemption, we got sidetracked, talking about some other challenges, and a song popped into my head. I started singing it, and the more I got into the lyric, the more applicable it became to our discussion, and we both fell into a fit of laughter. Truly, it was hysterical. But, even as I sang and laughed, I was overcome with the realization that we are in this thing together.

We are on the same side.

We are for each other.

That’s the underlying truth of the sweet spot. If you’re going through easy times, you don’t really have to rely on that truth to flow along. But when it’s hard? That’s when it comes into play, as you take turns carrying each other, forging ahead together, hands firmly clasped in the knowledge that two are better than one.

I think that’s what God had in mind when He put marriage together. After all, it’s a model of His relationship with the us, the church. We grab His hand in the good times, yes, but cling to Him in the hard times, because He is for us. And if He is for us, who can be against us?

Sweet spot, indeed.

“Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble.” Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 NLT

“Wives, understand and support your husbands in ways that show your support for Christ. The husband provides leadership to his wife the way Christ does to his church, not by domineering but by cherishing. So just as the church submits to Christ as he exercises such leadership, wives should likewise submit to their husbands.

Husbands, go all out in your love for your wives, exactly as Christ did for the church—a love marked by giving, not getting. Christ’s love makes the church whole. His words evoke her beauty. Everything he does and says is designed to bring the best out of her, dressing her in dazzling white silk, radiant with holiness. And that is how husbands ought to love their wives. They’re really doing themselves a favor—since they’re already “one” in marriage.” Ephesians 5:22-28 MSG

“…If God is for us, who can be against us?” Romans 8:31 NIV