Cornerstone Marriage

 Fifty-eight years ago, I asked an 18-year-old college sophomore to marry me. I was 21,  a college senior making $240 per month.  She said yes. We were in heaven.  Could not have been happier.  It was what experts now call a “cornerstone” marriage.  Our marriage to one another was the cornerstone upon which everything else has been built.

 We had no idea how we would make ends meet.  We could not predict our future.  I worked for $1.25 per hour, the minimum wage of that day,  trimming grass by hand, drove a van for Lighthouse for the Blind, worked in a factory and was pastor of a small church.  She worked in the library.   Somehow, we stayed in school and earned graduate degrees.   God was faithful, generous and kind.   

 Over the years we had three children, and raised them.  The first was born 5 years into our marriage.  The last was born the year I turned 40.  She is now 40.  Our children are now raising our 6 grandchildren, the oldest are finding their way like all young adults must do. 

 Sociologists are telling us that marriage for the younger generation has changed.  Instead of a “cornerstone,” marriage is often considered a “capstone,” the final step after all the preliminary problems have been solved: education, money, housing, cars, savings, financial security. As a result many young couples live together for many years before finally deciding they will “cap it off” with vows of marriage.

 I have to admit this confuses me. It seems to me that marriage is designed to help us form a problem-solving relationship.  The traditional vows, “for better or worse” have meaning.  We don’t know what life will bring.  Sometimes it is better.  Sometimes it is worse.  But marriage is a foundational relationship to celebrate successes and to endure challenges. Of course, some marriages fail. The cornerstone cracks.  The foundation crumbles. Sometimes the entire house falls.

 There is one cornerstone that will never fail. Isaiah wrote, “Therefore thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, A tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation, (Isaiah 28:16).  And Peter writes, “Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, “Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.” (1 Peter 2:5-6).  Jesus Christ is the chief cornerstone for life and marriage.