Bob and Audrey wanted to change the world. They got married and hit the ground running. Within a few years, they had three kids. They worked at the local and the national level to strengthen families. They were well known in the community. And they were busy. Really busy. Not only did they not see that as a problem, they saw it as a mindset. Every moment was an important opportunity to reach somebody that needed help. Bob and Audrey were driven to do more, to be better, and to always stay on top of things.
They were going so hard in life that they never saw the cracks in their marriage starting to form. Neither of them appreciated the danger their marriage was in. They were too caught up in the whirlwind of busyness they’d created for themselves. They were losing touch with their children, with their marriage, and with their own hearts. And as with every crack that’s ignored, it widened until the whole structure of their marriage collapsed upon itself.
Busyness keeps the ground beneath a marriage shaking, which leads to cracks in the relationship. “Busy” means more than “a lot of activity.” It’s a condition of the heart as well. We don’t notice what our spouse is thinking or feeling if our attention is always on ourselves or other people.
Hard work is something to be proud of, so is wanting to make a positive impact on the world. But the greater goal ought to be for a couple to achieve those things together, with their marriage intact and strong.