Something New ...

It’s spring and now is the perfect time to do a quick inventory of your relationship.  I hope you had just as much fun as I did last month with incorporating fun and laughter into your relationships. Let’s continue the fun and take it to another level with a spring cleaning.

Similar to deep cleaning a house, relationships could use some cleaning up too.  For a marriage spring cleaning, we don’t need to go any farther than to our tried and true wedding custom of ‘something old, something new, something borrowed.’

So for our spring relationship assessment, start by writing these three words on a sheet of paper: Old, Borrowed, and New.

Something Old symbolizes continuity with the bride’s family and the past.  So next to the word, old, write down one thing that you’ve done in the past to keep your relationship sizzling that you must continue to do this year.

Something Borrowed is usually an item from a happily married friend or family member, whose good fortune in marriage is supposed to carry over to the new bride. So, next to the word, borrowed, write down the names of a couple who you think models a good marriage.  Then do one thing you’ve observed them do that you think would help your marriage.  Also, you could consider asking that couple to mentor you and your spouse or just hang out with them from time-to-time.

Something New means optimism and hope for the couple’s new life ahead. Go back and think about the hope and dreams you had at the beginning of your marriage. Thank God for the ones that became reality, then write at least one new hope or dream for your future with your spouse, and start today doing what it will take to bring that dream into reality.

The last line of the traditional wedding something phrase is … ‘And a silver sixpence in her shoe’.   The sixpence is a coin that represented wealth. That is my wish for you, that as you do your marriage spring cleaning that you and yours find new prosperity in a happier marriage.

The complete phrase is:

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue, And a silver sixpence in her shoe.