"'Till death do us part!" Those words should be written in several places in our homes to remind us of our binding agreement to stay together. A few years ago I saw a TV program that showed a couple being married in church. I was stunned as I heard their vow, "As long as we both shall love."

Marriages are becoming like the thousands of products advertised as "disposable." We live in a society of throwaway bottles, cans, diapers, towels, shavers and even disposable swimsuits. The "disposable" mindset has also spread and we now have disposable marriages, children, parents, churches, religion and God. The new philosophy is, "If you don't like it, throw it away!" One hundred and fifty years ago when the oath, "'Till death do us part" was taken, a determination was instilled in those tough pioneers that no matter how difficult the marriage might be, they would stay with it. Even if they had thought of divorce or running away, where would they run and how could they get there? Transportation and jobs were scarce and towns were far apart. Those brave people determined, "We'll make it!"

I was reared in a family of 13, with ten brothers...five older and five younger than myself. I was sandwiched right in the middle. Dad was a car dealer, and he worked hard to support us. Mom should have been given a purple heart award for keeping her sanity with eleven children who were always into something. One day when my brother, Larry, was about seven years old, he asked, "Mom, don't you have days when you feel like running away?" She laughed and responded, "Oh yes, but where would I go, how would I get there and who would want to keep me? So I guess I will stay right here at home with you sweet kids." She was actually saying, "I'm staying right here. I will make it!"

At one time, years ago, we were involved in one-night rallies for months on end. That was tiring enough, but I had never been able to sleep while the bus is rolling. Usually, fatigue would eventually catch up with me and I tended to become a bit crabby. Late one night, Murphy's Law ("Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.") was in full operation. The bus had been hitting and bouncing over a seemingly infinite number of section lines on the concrete interstate and secondary roads. I felt like I was trapped inside a giant paint shaker. "I can't handle it anymore," I thought to myself. "I just can't stand one more bump in the road. I'm jumping off!" Half asleep, I ran up the aisle to tell the bus driver, "Let me out. I can't stand anymore!" At that moment, I glanced out a window and discovered that we were traveling through a rough section of Chicago. The sight I beheld of drug addicts, gang members and general darkness overwhelmed and shocked me. Suddenly I calmed down as my perspective quickly changed, "Oh well, I guess riding in the bus is better than being out there." I went back to bed.

Today...more money, newer cars, better jobs, adult peer pressures, social clubs and all kinds of entertainment and new technologies are taking a toll on marriages. If things get rough, a woman is tempted to think, "My husband doesn't even know I exist. I'll show him. I'm just going to do my own thing." Before long, being a wife and mother just isn't fulfilling any longer. She begins to think she's married to a deadbeat so she disposes of husband number 1 and tries husband number 2. After a time when he doesn't bring fulfillment and excitement, then she tries husband number 3, then number 4 and possibly on and on. This same type of disillusionment happens to her husband. He's caught up in his work, too busy making money to remember that he has a wife and children at home. He becomes more and more involved in his business, in dinner meetings and completely immerses himself in a different world than one that includes his wife and children. He meets many attractive women. When he does come home, he finds thathis wife isn't as beautiful and intriguing as the lady business executive he just met. The thoughts begin that he would rather not be tied down to a wife and children. He would just as soon leave the house with its mortgage payments and upkeep. He thinks, "I will get rid of it all. I want to be free!" He disposes of his marriage and leaves behind a broken home and broken hearts.

Please understand...in both examples above, these people haven't truly alleviated their problems. They have just acquired more complicated and complex problems. Many marriages breakup because people had unrealistic expectations of living happily ever after and weren't prepared to face the responsibilities of the real world. There is no such thing as a perfect storybook marriage, but there are happy, and thriving marriages. They are the result of people's commitment to each other and to the Lord, combining their ambitions, goals, efforts, love and determination to make it work.

If you've ever felt like giving up - CHEER UP! You can make it! Remember your commitment to your mate and to the Lord. First Corinthians 13:7-8 gives us a great guideline for what love really means when you feel like giving up, "{Love} beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. {Love} never faileth." Please pray with me that God will help you to remember and renew your commitment.

Jesus, I come to You with praise and thanksgiving for Your total commitment to Your Heavenly Father. Your commitment and obedience led You to death on the cross of Calvary so that I might live. Now I ask that You would instill within me that same love, insight, obedience and commitment to you and to my mate. Help me daily to commit myself, my will, ambitions and goals to You and to the one to whom I've committed my life in marriage. In these rough times, renew a right spirit of love and forgiveness within me and give me the stamina to keep persevering. Help me to keep my eyes upon You as the perfect example of commitment. Amen.

To check baking powder to see if it is still good, put a pinch in a cup of warm water. If it fizzes immediately, it is still good.