Marriage is not as easy as many singles envision it. A successful marriage doesn’t just happen. It requires sacrifice, determination and great fortitude. Getting it right can be draining, but it can also be fulfilling. I have enjoyed my marital journey so far – both the ups and the downs, and I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything. Our modern society has made marriage even more difficult by systematically eroding support for the permanence of marriage. Society today has created many escape hatches for couples and made marriage seem like a social experiment. Divorce has become so fashionable that many of our youth enter into marriage with their eyes already on the exit door.  They seek divorce at the slightest agitation. Yet good marriages, even great marriages go through turbulence sometimes. The key is that they have a sense of purpose and direction, a sense of commitment, a sense of unity as well as the courage and ability to get back on track whenever there’s a deviation. Their hope is not in never encountering challenges along the way but in their determination and ability to face those challenges together and overcome them together.

Understanding marriage as a permanent vocation will help ensure that you look for solutions that safeguard your marriage, rather than turn to divorce as the solution to every marital distress. Never give up or stop trying to make your marriage better. If you want a successful marriage, you need to pay the price for it, and yes, sometimes it can be expensive, but I can assure you that it’s worth every penny.