If you are a 90’s baby, then you are very familiar with the sitcom "Martin." A television series about a silly, short, pointy eared Martin and his light skin girlfriend (practically wife) Gina engulfs us in rib busting laughs and heart breaking tears as we journey through their life together.
If you don’t happen to know what show I’m talking about, then shame on you. Sometimes, I even stay up way past my bed time to tune into MTV2 just to watch a couple reruns. When I do, I can’t help but notice that Martin and Gina have taught us quite a few things about marriage along the way. Not just that it can be fun and exciting, but there will be a couple scoops of anxiety, a tablespoon of doubt and three cups of frustration included in the mix. However, there is not a single episode that does not show us how to resolve those marital issues. While I understand that they are just fictional characters, I believe that they are the most positive image of a married couple for the Millennial generation.
Why do I focus so much on my generation?
Because we are the generation that is currently leading the world in the wrong direction. The baby boomers are heading out as Generation Y moves in and we are bringing our doubt in commitment with us. Many Millennials are asking why is marriage worth four months of my time to plan? Because in a life that is too short and with patience that is thinner than tissue paper, we are beginning to believe that love only exists for the 80 year-old couples who still walk in the park holding hands. Now, every kiss has a hidden agenda, every hug has a double meaning, and every “I Love You” has been passed around more than three times by the same mouth. We are in a state where we ask the purpose of marriage. No longer evident is its sustainability.
My generation, we witness the fights, sleepless nights and tears on plump pillows from failed relationships. The marriages that fall apart like the walls of Jericho, block by block. You would think that it’s stronger than brick, but it’s just as fragile. It can easily crumble to a pile of pebbles just like the hope of Generation Y. We see the women, so love struck, yet so heart broken, forfeit the idea. Men, surpassed by women, stand firm in the question “with so many options, how can you be confined to just one?”
My answer: the same way you’re only short one rib. God designed this gift as a reward for doing his works. He blesses those joined in matrimony before him committing to each other with accountability. Mounted at the forefront of the alter, laced with scriptures on how to carry on. So to my fellow Millennials, do not lose hope in your Martin & Gina happy ending. To my older generations, do not give up on us; we are simply lost in our own sitcom.
Love is not lost. The Martin & Gina relationship is not impossible. It’s not easy either, but I believe it is worth it. No matter how many Pams, Tommys and Coles try to disrupt the process, never lose sight of the goal.
