The Obsession with Marriage

I'd be lying if I said that I didn't lose an embarrassing number of hours on Facebook each day. I'll be the first to admit that I'm a creep and a class A Stalker. Each day as I'm browsing my news feed, skipping over the boring stuff ( if I see one more picture of a fake "Jesus" asking me to declare my faith by liking or sharing a picture I'm gonna lose it), it never fails that there is an article on marriage that has gone viral. These articles have become more and more frequent, and while there are some good ones out there, whether the title is "23 Things to Do Instead of Getting Married" or "Confessions of a Teenage Bride", they're all rebutting to the same debate: What is the appropriate age of marriage?


I'll also admit that I read almost all of these articles. And instead of being inspired to right my own rebuttal, I'm just left wondering why there's such a battle going on between marrying young or old? What is the obsession with marrying at 21? What is the obsession with marrying at 35?  Is it because successful marriages seem so far and few between that as a generation we're searching for some secret piece of advice to make our marriages work? And because there are so many things in our lives and culture that we have to be "of age" to do, have we lumped marriage into that category also?


I understand that a lot of this has to do with where we're raised. People in the South tend to want to marry young, so they can start a family young and so on. I've noticed that people in the North like to wait, so they can establish their careers and then add marriage to the mix. People in the West (California, I'm talking to you) just do whatever they want and may live with 6 random people for the rest of their lives or in the desert by themselves with nothing but a camper and a thong. I do realize that this blanket statement doesn't apply to all people, there are exceptions to every rule, and I don't mean to offend anyone.


All in all, I just don't get it. Does it really matter what age someone gets married? If you want to be married at 16 (and it's legal in your state) then do it. If you want to be married at 45 then adopt a kid from each continent, please do it. There's no need to bash others because they're doing what they think is best for them. Just because you don't think giving up hangovers and glitter in places you didn't even know glitter could get is worth being a wife doesn't mean other women don't. And just because you don't want to have laugh lines and crows feet on your wedding day doesn't mean that other women wouldn't cherish those in their wedding photos. There's no one else who dictates your marriage more than the people who are in it, so marry when you want. Marry 2 months or 20 years after meeting someone. As long as you feel in your heart that you're doing what God has planned for you, no one else matters.