A Desirable Partner

Kristin and I watched the BBC’s production of Pride and Prejudice recently. Think what you will, but I enjoy Austen’s work immensely. And it turns out I like the movie, too. There are a couple of events from the movie that I want to comment on.

First, we are given a manly example of repentance by Mr. Darcy after his marriage proposal to Elizabeth is flatly rejected. His repentance is lasting, costly, selfless, motivated by love, and transformational. Men who struggle with taking initiative and bearing responsibility would do well to study and emulate his example.

But the part of the movie I enjoy the most is the series of vignettes during the wedding sermon near the end. The snapshots of poorly matched marriages powerfully illustrate – with non-examples--the real purposes for matrimony.

We’re at a season in life where most our peer group has married, and many are well into the child-bearing years. Thankfully, only one marriage that we know of has ended in divorce. Yet, I doubt that few of us at the time of our betrothal were mature enough to make such a momentous decision in view of biblical purposes for matrimony.

God’s grace is very evident in the match between Kristin and me. I was certainly not mature enough to comprehend the magnitude of the decision I was making when I proposed to her that night along the Riverwalk in San Antonio. But God has given me a wife that, even to this day, is better than I deserve. “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine,” I give my heartfelt thanks.