Permanent Happiness

 

"Do not look alone at his attractive exterior; seek to know what ends actuate him. It is the loveliness of pure, high principles that remains verdant the longest--yes, forever verdant. These, and these alone, can make you permanently happy. Without them, an angel's grace, an angel's form would lose its attractions; with them, the plainest exterior soon grows beautiful to the eye of a loving wife."

  (Timothy Shay Arthur, "Lovers and Husbands. A Story of Married Life" 1847)

 Actuate means: to incite or move to action; impel; motivate

 Verdant means: green with vegetation; covered with growing plants or grass

I thought this statement was a very good.  I have grown up in a home with a mother and father who both put the Lord as first priority in their lives.  After that, they endeavor to keep their marriage as the priority relationship.  They are both wonderful people.  I am truly blessed to be their daughter!

Someone once told my sister and I that we had a very high standard in our dad to line suitors up with.  This is completely true.  Our dad's chief motivation is the Lord, and he does truly cherish his wife.  Thus, he has  a happy wife, and happy children.  Our parents, like all, have rough times too.  But they come through - because the Lord is the center of their love and motivation.  I hope that I can walk in the example of my mother's love and commitment to the Lord, and that someday I will be blessed with a husband who's actions and principles are motivated, as my father's, by a love and commitment to the Lord.

Photo Credit:
http://myheartisalwayshome.blogspot.com/2011/04/and-dash-of-love.html