Our shower drain is backing up. Bit by bit, each day it’s been getting worse. Cleaning the hair and gunk out of the shower drain isn’t exactly a fun project. And it’s certainly not something to be done on a normal weekday morning, when trying to get ready for a long grueling day of work.
Cleaning the gunk out of the shower drain is something to be done on a Saturday … when there’s some free time. (like today … hence the topic for today’s blog post – Ha!)
Just as the gunk in the shower drain has built up, bit by bit, over months … so also, in our day-to-day life “gunk” slowly builds up, bit by bit, in our marriage relationship. We don’t really see it … any more than we can see the “gunk” building up in the shower drain.
We are aware that “gunk” is probably building up, but life is so demanding! It takes so much out of us! There’s no time to think about the “gunk” as we try to make it through the everyday grueling grind of life.
Then one day, one normal ordinary day, water starts backing up. Just a little bit … nothing much really. We don’t think anything about it. There’s no time to worry about such things.
But as the days march by, the backup becomes worse and worse … until we have to address it. With our shower drain, this is about once a year. The same thing is true in marriage. At least once a year it’s important to set aside some designated time to specifically do some “gunk cleaning” in the marriage.
For some couples, this is a Couples Retreat, hosted by their church. Hubby and I have some friends who take a week each fall to go over to the coast and do their yearly “marriage check-up.” They spend the week together talking about how the past year went, what went wrong, what went well. They talk about their dreams and goals and plans for the future … for their marriage, for their family, for the next upcoming year, for the distant future, etc.
A yearly “marriage check-up” is invaluable!
Hubby and I don’t spend a week at the coast for a yearly “marriage check-up,” but we do set aside time at periodic intervals to discuss the good, the bad, and the messy. We talk about dreams and goals and plans. What are we doing?? … and where are we going in life? … individually and in our marriage? What is God calling us to?
Cleaning the “gunk” out of marriage is important! It takes intentionality! Make a point to set aside some designated time each year for a “marriage check-up.”
