Our church offers a Sunday school class on the topic of marriage and family, and the lesson yesterday reminded me of something in our marriage that brings us joy: the value we see in each other. I wanted to share this interesting object lesson the teacher used and why I loved it!

One of the teachers held up a gold dollar coin and said that it represented us being “one” in our marriage. And then we looked at the coins that make up 100 cents, or this one gold dollar. She held up 2 quarters representing the 50 cents her husband is, and another 50 cents that represent her, however, it was made up of 5 dimes. She then made the conclusion that though we each bring different aspects to the marriage and are made up differently, our value is equal, and that one spouse is not valued over the other. Hearing and seeing this representation of an equal partnership in marriage just resonated so much with me!

In this modern world, we may not have struggles with this nearly as much because gender equality is so encouraged and fought for more than it was years ago. However, there are still times when as spouses, we might feel undervalued or inferior to the other spouse. I’m grateful that both my husband and I have been able to see the value each of us brings to our team, and that we’ve never intentionally made the other feel inferior. Maybe one of us does a lot more little things, while another does a few big things. Maybe there are times when one spouse does a lot more than the other, but those times don’t get to us as much because we continually try to appreciate and praise one another’s value.

I hope that you and your spouse are also trying to continually recognize each other’s value in your relationship and life together. Each of you has an important viewpoint that always deserves to be heard, a voice that should never be stifled, and a giant list of skills and qualities that are always impacting your marriage for the better. Don’t forget that!

• ajoyfulmarriage
• all
• journal