When Dianne Marries

By Jeanette Berry.

Our only daughter, Dianne, has not yet found the man God has for her life. In fact, she has not really seemed too interested. As her mother, I am not the least concerned that she might "miss the boat". To be honest, I am not sure that even now she is ready to settle down enough to commit herself to all that marriage requires. And, she has not found anyone that even I felt she was in love with, to the point of spending a lifetime with him. However, I am aware that it could happen suddenly.

If Dianne announced she was planning to marry, what would I want her to know? Let me insert here that I have no crash course before the wedding. If I have not already taught her through the years of watching me as a wife, mother, and homemaker, then all the lectures and final exhortations will be in vain.

God Has A Plan

God's plan is they only plan for establishing a home and He gives us a marriage manual --the Bible. It is a How To Do It book written by the One Who made us and knows how to make us happy. If she and her husband-to-be- would accept it as the final authority and agree to obey its rules and guidelines, they would solve a major part of the problems that arise. A husband would learn what God expect of him in relation to his wife, and she would find out how to make her husband a happy man.

I would want her to have God's command to submission in perspective even as the husband is to love his wife unconditionally.

Put Her Husband In His Proper Place

I want Dianne to make her husband the center of her life, second only to God. He would become her primary career. She would learn that men are "different". I am sure that she has learned well, since she grew up in the same household with her father and two brothers. Males have a personality, goals, manners and body that is in no way like that of females. To Dianne, this might come easy, but for many girls growing up in an all female household, it an be frustrating and easy to misunderstand the personality characteristics of the male gender.

A Healthy Concept Of The Physical Side Of Marriage

God ordained sex before sin entered into the world. He designed this part of marriage for pleasure and fulfillment of both the husband and wife. As one writer said, "the celebration of love." I would want her to understand the many phases of love, and to be forever the romantic, even though the feelings of ecstasy may ebb and flow.

Understand The Importance of The Home

I want Dianne to understand how important the home is, and her own responsibility of making it a heaven on earth. She can make it a living place, a hiding place, and a castle for the king of her life. Each member of the family needs a place of refuge and nourishment, a place where they feel loved and appreciated. This is a great responsibility. Her own attitudes regarding her husband, her home, sex and children would be the power that shapes and molds the lives of those with whom she comes in contact.

Keep Growing Intellectually.

Many ladies allow themselves to become mentally stagnated after marriage, pulling their own little world in around them. I want Dianne to keep learning, keep reaching out with the joy of living that is so characteristic of her.

Guard Her Appearance

I want her to take time to do the personal necessities of grooming and also the discipline of controlling her eating habits and proper exercise.

As you can see, this is quite a list. I could think of so many more. I am aware I have been her chief role model through these years and I hope she learns to cling to the right things and learn not to do the things in which I err. She has seen my mistakes and those of others with whom she has been associated. I pray that if and when the time comes to walk the aisle, she will have it all in perspective. As she begins to build a home it will be one that could be set on a hill as an example for other to follow.