{"id":8046,"date":"2012-08-07T15:54:00","date_gmt":"2012-08-07T20:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites-stage.familylife.com\/flministries\/?p=8046"},"modified":"2012-08-07T15:54:00","modified_gmt":"2012-08-07T20:54:00","slug":"the-anniversary-blend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/articles\/topics\/marriage\/staying-married\/commitment\/the-anniversary-blend\/","title":{"rendered":"The Anniversary Blend"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

I was about to leave the grocery store when I caught a whiff of freshly-brewed coffee from a coffee kiosk. It woke me out of my shopping trance and tempted me with caffeine pleasure. I almost succumbed, but decided a sniff was cheaper than a sip.<\/p>\n

As I stood there smelling the coffee, I noticed a sign on the counter:<\/p>\n

Our new anniversary blend.
\n<\/em>Well worth the wait.
\n<\/em>Bring some home today.<\/em><\/p>\n

Hmm.\u00a0It must have been the word anniversary<\/em> that flipped my thoughts to my marriage.\u00a0I reread the sign a few times and thought, Wow, there\u2019s a lot of wisdom packed in that slogan.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cOur new anniversary blend\u201d:<\/strong>\u00a0There\u2019s a spirit of pride and ownership in those words. Some business people had a vision for marketing great coffee. They made a commitment, \u00a0purchased a coffee roaster, ordered sacks of beans from Costa Rica, and on opening day the world became a better place. And the obvious genius of these coffee connoisseurs\u2019 success is that hundreds of batches later they are still tweaking their product.<\/p>\n

When my husband, Roger, and I are stuck in the sludge of busy routines and unacknowledged assumptions, I get restless for a \u201cfresh cup of coffee\u201d in our relationship. There it is: the big \u201cI.\u201d Did you notice?\u00a0That one-letter pronoun is a glimpse into my heart. It\u2019s so easy for me to just focus on what \u201cI want\u201d instead of what \u201cWe need.\u201d \u00a0Marriage is a far greater commitment than a business partnership, but the analogy reminds me that every day I need to take ownership not only for my<\/em> part, but for our<\/em> start.<\/p>\n

Our marriage vow makes me an equal partner in contributing to a new anniversary blend. \u00a0Yet, I\u2019m often guilty of stepping up to the counter of our relationship expecting Roger to serve me without a thought of how I can serve him.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell worth the wait\u201d:<\/strong>\u00a0The experts know it takes time to learn how to properly roast and brew a great cup of coffee. They work through the glitches, failures, and frustrations. They learn about aroma, flavor, acidity, body, finish, and aftertaste. And when they serve the best they have to offer, the wise ones keep working on making it better. They don\u2019t give up.\u00a0They don\u2019t go passive.<\/p>\n

What a contrast this is to our culture\u2019s attitude about marriage.\u00a0For many, marriage is as disposable as breakfast\u2019s soggy, used coffee grounds.<\/p>\n

Marriage is hard work, forged in the drama of selfishness, loss, hurt, change, and disappointment. But I\u2019ve noticed that the couples who work hard on their relationship \u00a0experience the greatest rewards.<\/p>\n

Companionship. Respect.\u00a0Love. Legacy.\u00a0These words mean more to me now that my husband and I are in our fourth decade of marriage. I\u2019m an incurable admirer of the passionate vibes flowing between a bride and a groom at the altar. But the glow of Eden at a wedding ceremony is a dim light compared to the couple that commits itself to the daily investments of kindness and forgiveness. \u00a0Instead of thinking that time is working against my marriage, I need to see time as my friend.\u00a0I need to invest today. It will make tomorrow well worth the wait.<\/p>\n

\u201cBring some home today\u201d:<\/strong>\u00a0How simple!\u00a0I can do that.\u00a0I must do that.\u00a0I will do that.\u00a0I\u2019m going to take home the gift of love to that one person in this world I\u2019ve made a covenant with, my husband.<\/p>\n

And when my pride protests, I\u2019m going to remember the example of my father at age 90.\u00a0He and Mom were sitting in their apartment on a warm summer day, living the still life of agedness.\u00a0Out of the blue Mom said, \u201cOh, how I\u2019d love to eat a Buster Bar.\u201d\u00a0This specialty from Dairy Queen was Mom\u2019s favorite indulgence.<\/p>\n

Her words were merely a passing yearning, but Dad caught wind.\u00a0Later, Dad, with gnarled, numb feet and a rickety walker said, \u201cI\u2019m going for a walk.\u201d\u00a0His custom was to painstakingly walk the path around the retirement facility.\u00a0But love had another ambition that was blocks away. Time passed.\u00a0Mom wondered what was taking so long.\u00a0But Dad came home, with a melting puddle of ice cream contained in a Buster Bar wrapper.<\/p>\n

\n

\u00a9 2009 by FamilyLife. All rights reserved.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I invest in my marriage today, it makes tomorrow well worth the wait.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66132,"featured_media":15752,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"When I invest in my marriage today, it makes tomorrow well worth the wait.","_seopress_robots_index":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2809],"tags":[],"equip-category":[],"cwp_profile":[3317],"class_list":["post-8046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commitment","cwp_profile-joanne-thompson"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2018\/01\/the-anniversary-blend-1040x326-1.jpg","spectra_custom_meta":{"_wp_page_template":["default"],"_vc_post_settings":["a:1:{s:10:\"vc_grid_id\";a:0:{}}"],"_startdate":["field_598a655fc5a8d"],"startdate":[""],"_state":["field_598a6575c5a8e"],"state":[""],"_url":["field_598a6582c5a8f"],"url":[""],"_venuename":["field_598a6598c5a90"],"venuename":[""],"_hotel_reservationurl":["field_598a65b3c5a91"],"hotel_reservationurl":[""],"_reservationtelephone":["field_598a65c6c5a92"],"reservationtelephone":[""],"_imageurl":["field_598a65edc5a93"],"imageurl":[""],"_postalcode":["field_598a654b146f3"],"postalcode":[""],"_longitude":["field_598a653e355f6"],"longitude":[""],"_latitude":["field_598a64f8ada01"],"latitude":[""],"_enddate":["field_598a64a5afb90"],"enddate":[""],"_countrycode":["field_598a648b86dcc"],"countrycode":[""],"_city":["field_598a647e29bf2"],"city":[""],"_availableseats":["field_598a646bbebc6"],"availableseats":[""],"_addressline1":["field_598a645214a6b"],"addressline1":[""],"_eventid":["field_598a6442626b9"],"eventid":[""],"_cs_replacements":["a:1:{s:12:\"blog-sidebar\";s:4:\"cs-2\";}"],"_edit_last":["89"],"_ultimate_layouts_video_link":[""],"_nectar_gallery_slider":["off"],"_nectar_quote_author":[""],"_nectar_quote":[""],"_nectar_link":[""],"_nectar_video_m4v":[""],"_nectar_video_ogv":[""],"_nectar_video_poster":[""],"_nectar_video_embed":[""],"_nectar_audio_mp3":[""],"_nectar_audio_ogg":[""],"_post_item_masonry_sizing":["regular"],"_nectar_header_bg":[""],"_nectar_header_parallax":["off"],"_nectar_header_bg_height":[""],"_nectar_header_bg_color":[""],"_nectar_header_font_color":[""],"_disable_transparent_header":["off"],"_wpb_vc_js_status":["false"],"_at_widget":["1"],"_yoast_wpseo_content_score":["30"],"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":["65"],"_alt_author":["field_5ac3df572642e"],"alt_author":["14544"],"_thumbnail_id":["15752"],"_yoast_wpseo_focuskw_text_input":["commitment"],"_yoast_wpseo_focuskw":["commitment"],"_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":["When I invest in my marriage today, it makes tomorrow well worth the wait."],"_yoast_wpseo_linkdex":["51"],"_wp_old_date":["2018-01-11"],"_eael_post_view_count":["474"],"_eb_reusable_block_ids":["a:0:{}"],"_seopress_titles_desc":["When I invest in my marriage today, it makes tomorrow well worth the wait."],"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":["commitment"],"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":["none"],"_uag_css_file_name":["uag-css-8046.css"],"_uag_js_file_name":["uag-js-8046.js"]},"meta_box":{"_cloudsearch_visibility":"","profile_obj_manual_select":false,"profile_obj":false,"separator":false,"enable_link":false,"login_restricted":"","content_type":"","disclaimer_banner":"","currency":false,"pricing_subtext":false,"element_type":false,"date_field":false,"date_format":false,"theme_header_position":"","post_header_is_sticky":"","is_header_overlay":"","series":false,"ignore_sticky":false,"conditional_blocks_category":false,"cta_selection":false},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2018\/01\/the-anniversary-blend-1040x326-1.jpg",1024,321,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Christian Longe","author_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/author\/christian-longecru-org\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"When I invest in my marriage today, it makes tomorrow well worth the wait.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/66132"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8046"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8046\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8046"},{"taxonomy":"equip-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/equip-category?post=8046"},{"taxonomy":"cwp_profile","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cwp_profile?post=8046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}