LOVE AND MARRIAGE ?

FROM SCOTLAND TO KENYA!    At last united with my Sister Pat, and with Harvey her son and daughter in law - Marion.     SUCH a joy to actually have them WITH US.  
Daryl went up to Nairobi as planned to meet them with Carol his wife and their eldest son, Jesse.   From there to Ngong about 40 kilometres away to the home of Esther's sister Mary where they spent most of that day (4th January) and the night.     There they met Mary's husband Joe, and their children and their families!!   Quite an overwhelming introduction to our side - the Kenya side - of the family of GREEN.    Then on the morning of the 5th they all made their way to ELDORET, arriving about 5p.m. in the afternoon.    Since THEN we have been enjoying each others company.


YESTERDAY, 6th January was Steven and Anji's 16th Wedding Anniversary.    The photo here was taken in our grounds on their Wedding Day.    We were able to get together with them last night via SKYPE. It was great.  

 My sister Pat had been married to her husband Donald almost 50 years before he sadly died.   Esther and I have been married 40 years.     So many people have evinced their astonishment that anyone can stay together for such a lengthy period in Marriage!   - MANY tell me quite seriously that these days the majority of marriages do not last even three years, and admittedly we hear of those that end within a year!
Are those that stick together for longer to be considered foolish?  

MARRIAGE is intended to demonstrate a permanent and enduring relationship; the relationship that there OUGHT to be between every man and woman - and GOD.     A relationship that will not be altered or upset by changing circumstances or events, but one that will be willing to endure with long-suffering the faults and failings in both parties, as well as to enjoy the admirable and loving qualities found in each other.
MARRIAGE - more than the incoming idea of 'partnership' (or 'Come we Stay' theology found here in Kenya and increasingly all over the world) - is meant to be seen NOT as a RISK, but as a considered and sincere COMMITMENT of a Man to a Woman, or a Woman to a Man.     (Gay Relationships are not found acceptable in either the Bible or the Koran.)
NO ONE should sensibly enter into MARRIAGE unless they mean to remain together for life, come what may!     I make no apology for presenting the Christian view of Marriage.       It has been around a long time, and prior to this wayward and sexually orientated generation, worked very well.    It rests on an Ideal that if followed through must affect all of Creation, and the Security of the Universe.
MARRIAGE, as it is set out by the Church of Christ, is more than a mere Contract, it is a serious Agreement made seriously in front of God, each of the two involved  vowing to the other that they will remain constant and faithful to each other for all of their respective lives - for better or for worse...........!  
THIS is something that a Home and Family can be built upon; it provides ongoing SECURITY and ASSURANCE that such home and family will always be there.     A reliable Point of Reference.  
The Faith that GOD existed, and was a Binding Witness to the Promises made between the Man and the Woman gave REASON for couples to persevere, endure and even suffer if necessary whatever might come to disturb or challenge the Marriage.        One could not, surely, walk out on God - breaking the promises made in His hearing?         It was not the EASY 'come or go' attitude found in so many unhallowed relationships of our current world.

HERE IN TESTIMONY FAITH HOMES we have tried to uphold the idea of Home and Family built on a Marriage in Church in front of God, and witnessed by family and friends.      We have endeavoured to proclaim to children who have been the victims of broken promises and careless relationships that there IS a safe foundation to built their own home and family upon, providing for their children what so many of them were deprived of, or just never had in the first place.     Oh yes!   We do readily admit that many have not readily followed our example.     Some HAVE entered into uncommitted and even loosely tied together relationships AND suffered the consequences - though some later brought themselves either to church or to the local administrative government to finally commit themselves to each other.    The had failed to find peace in a relationship that lacked trust and faith.

Dr. Martin Lloyd Jones writes - 'What right have we to expect nations to stand by their promises and keep their vows to each other, if men and women do not do it even in this most solemn and sacred union of marriage?   We must start with ourselves, we must start at the Beginning.   We must observe the Law of God (NOT Moses) in our personal and individual lives.'


Good, Seriously entered into, enduring Marriage is the mainstay of our humanity.    If we are to rescue our own Generation and provide against the security of the next we must determine to uphold MARRIAGE, and thereby SAVE our home and family from a sure anarchy and repudiation of all human morality.        And remember nothing is gained without sacrifice.   We enter into Marriage determining to lay down our life for the other - indefinitely, for ever.   Your children will see it and feel it, and rejoice in the knowledge of your true love for each other, learning from it.

I believe that my sister Pat and I, having both to some extent been victims of a broken marriage and selfish parents, have been greatly helped in holding our own marriages, and thereby our family members in the home, together, realising how it felt to be without the security and warmth generated by a persevering, forgiving and loving father and mother that remained faithful to each other through all the ups and downs of life and also the let downs and disappointments experienced in each other.      We were indeed inspired NOT to be as they were, but to aspire and reach for something more lasting and certain.

We have both lived 70+ years without knowing anything about each other, and now meet, having lived very different lives in very different situations yet in marriages that endured well enough, to progressively deepen the friendship and loving bond that joined us and continues to join us together with the one we promised to live with till death parts us.

GOD BLESS you all, and if are celebrating this Year,   Rejoice for each year successfully spent bearing each others shortcomings in Love and discovering the growth of your own bond of love for each other.

John and Esther