Cherish: Building a Lifelong Love

I, ———-, take you, ——–, to be my wedded husband/wife. I will care for
you whether life is easy or hard, whether we are rich or poor. In sickness and
in health.
I will love you, honor you and Cherish you as long as we both shall live,
according to God’s holy ordinance, and to this end I now pledge to you my
faithfulness.
As we repeated those vows on our wedding day, our love bucket was full and
overflowing. But our understanding of cherish was limited.
What do I mean by “cherish.” Isn’t it the same as love. Gary Thomas in his book,
Cherish: the One Word that Changes Everything for Your Marriage, describes it as
a combination of respect, adoration, gratitude, honor, of going out of your way to
notice, appreciate, and holding someone dear often in a visible way.
I always knew that my Dad loved my mother. But each spring when the wild
violets began to appear, he would slip out into the meadow to gather a mini
bouquet of the velvety blooms. Upon entering the house, he would sing, “You are
my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are gray. . .” and
my little-girl heart did a delighted dance because my Daddy cherished my
Mommy.
According to Gary Thomas, love and cherish do not compete; they complete. I
like to think of love as forming the foundation and walls and roof of a relationship.
Cherishing is all the beautiful, decorative furnishings of the “house’ we call
marriage. It’s what lends that certain sparkle to a couple.
Thomas declares the best gift of cherishing you can give your spouse is to tell
him/her with your words, actions and eyes, “You don’t have to be anyone other
than who you are. You are my Adam (or you are my Eve), the only man/woman in
the world to me!”
Idella Otto
Emory & Idella Otto
Clergy presenter couple for M&B ME

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