Each week during the Rekindled Challenge, we are asking members of Faith Fellowship to share a memory, thought, or something God has taught them through their marriage. Check out Suzanne’s story.

There is a time for everything in the course of a marriage.

This seems like a simple statement, but notice that I said a time, not just time; and had I let this truth sink into my stubborn, impatient brain in the early days of my 45-year marriage to Steven, I could have saved myself a good bit of emotional stress and anguish.

In our early years, I would ask Steven help me with chores, such as doing the dishes or the laundry, and he would say ok. But then, when it didn’t get done, I would get mad, then would either nag him or do it myself. This became a really bad cycle of behavior in our marriage that developed because I thought that MY time should fit perfectly with HIS time for getting something done.

Well, that never happened and that’s because I didn’t let the Word of God help me make things better.

Ecclesiastes 3 offers us great teachings that can be applied to situations of marriage. I won’t list all the verses, but here are a few with some thoughts to consider:

• Ecclesiastes 3:1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven

• Ecclesiastes 3:2: a time to be born and a time to die -- Give birth to new ideas for your marriage. Let bad habits die.

• Ecclesiastes 3:3: a time to tear down and a time to build -- Don’t let walls stay up between you. Tear them down as soon as possible. Then use what you’ve learned to build a better relationship for yourselves.

• Ecclesiastes 3:4: a time to weep and a time to laugh – Weep over the sins you commit against God and your spouse. Confess them to Jesus and each other, repent of the sin - even if it takes several tries, then laugh at Satan for failing to ruin your marriage.

• Ecclesiastes 3:5: a time to embrace and a time to refrain – Not every idea is a good one, especially when it comes to making financial decisions. Pray for wisdom to come down from our omniscient God so that you will know whether to embrace or refrain from pursuing a particular idea or desire.

• Ecclesiastes 3:7: a time to be silent and a time to speak – This one speaks for itself, but is really important!

• Ecclesiastes 3:8: a time for war and a time for peace – Wage war against the evil that attempts daily to penetrate and destroy the sanctity of marriage and family as it is defined in the Bible, yet act with love, patience and peace to keep your marriage sound and grounded in Christ.

Like I said, I wish that I had learned these lessons earlier in life. But everything is in God’s good timing. Steven is now washing the dishes and doing the laundry without even being asked! This may have been 45 years in the making, but now his time and mine are finally in sync.