This is a question that seems to rarely get asked by couples but it can be a valuable one. You see, we date and get married and we know what we have in common. For example, you may know that your new spouse is a Type A personality, while you are not quite as driven. You know that you both treasure the truths in God’s Word. Hiking is a joint obsession but mountain biking – not so much.
However, as the years go by, you both continue to grow – you learn to make your differences in how driven you are work for you; you grow in how you apply God’s principles to your marriage as well as interactions with others; and so on.
But how do you mark that growth? How can you appreciate a new perspective on how far you have come as a couple? Perhaps a look back is in order. I recently had someone suggest (this is not original with me) creating a time capsule. You know, those things that schools and city landmarks have sometimes been known to do. I remember one elementary school that took various items that represented their school and its culture, and buried them in a time capsule and then opened the capsule 50 years later to see what had changed.
What if we were to create our own marital time capsule? You might take some of your family pictures, a copy of an award that was received, a program from a public presentation one of you gave – the possibilities are endless – and buried them in a capsule to be dug up in 10 years. It could provide you an interesting and even entertaining look back to see how you have grown. It may even lead to appreciation of how you have become more united in your faith, in what is important, and where you want your focus to be going forward. Besides, it just might be fun.