27 Reasons Why We Have A Fabulous Marriage by Mike & Helga van Niekerk

9-30am

Last year Mike & I put together 26 reasons why we have a fabulous marriage.  Today’s blog I copied from a year ago & added one more!  We remain so grateful that nothing has changed!

9th August 1986, I walked down the aisle at Cape Town Baptist Church and at about 2-30pm, we said, “I do!” 27 years have passed. That’s 9861 days (including 6 leap year days!) –  236664 hours. We can confidently say that there has not been a day or an hour that we have regretted our decision. To God Be The Glory.

1. We have the same faith.  On our wedding invitation, we invited people to witness the 2nd most important decision of our lives, the first being our commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ.
2. The Bible is the basis for our life together. We trust & live by God’s Word.
3. Unconditional acceptance of  each other has been important to us
4. We have the same financial values, including the importance of tithing. We have a similar perspective when it comes to money & possessions. All we have comes from God.  Neither of us are big spenders and both of us come from humble origins.
5. We have learnt to both want the best for each other.
6. Commitment – divorce is not an option.
7. We don’t talk to others about any issues within our marriage.
8. Sex has always been a priority!
9. We always resolve conflict as quickly as possible.
10. We apologise when things go wrong.
11. We respect for one another’s individual talents and gifts, desires and dreams.
12. If we are under the same roof, we are in the same bed!
13. We compromise.
14. When we were newly wed we had vast differences but over time have embraced those differences to such an extent that now we are more similar. It’s been like two trees planted a little distance apart that have grown toward each other over time. Now our branches are interlocked.
15. We appreciate each other.
16. We say kind words to each other – and give lots of affirmation, regularly, in fact, daily . It’s constant building up of one another.
17. We do not criticize each other in public – in fact there is very little criticism between us at all.
18. We always give thanks to God together for the food we eat.
19. We have consistently and intentionally valued and honoured our parents.
20. From when they were very young, we committed our children entirely to God, asking Him to be responsible for their spiritual well-being. Our children are in God’s hands. We both have intentionally been ‘on the same page’ when raising Stacey and David.
21. We like spending time together.
22. We both enjoy the outdoors.
23. We are both hopeless romantics!
24. We are best friends & each others biggest fans.
25. We communicate well.                                                                       26. We are flexible with one another, understanding seasons & circumstances change.                                                                             27. We acknowledge that God is the Beginning and End of our marriage. It is our testimony that God has done all of this. He has fulfilled all that we requested of Him on our wedding day. Nothing of these attributes are to our credit at all. They are a gift from God that we daily enjoy. The Bible verse for our marriage together has always been “Unless the Lord builds the house, they that build it labour in vain”. (Psalm 127:1) This is our testimony. It is true.

The row of selfcatering cottages we are staying in…

Our cottage…

Mike lighting the fire…

Dinner at Abbey Rose…

On our way to breakfast this morning…no railway in sight though…

There is masses of snow on nearby mountains. I hope to put those photos up soon.  After breakfast we are off on a trail. It’s busy and vibrant and lovely here.

God bless you loads!

In His Grip,

Helga xx 🙂