## 127:1
%% 4
> Unless the Lord Builds the House
>> Unless the LORD builds the house, they who build it labour in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman guards it in vain.

Occasion: Building a marriage

Lord, we are laying days brick by brick ---
moment by moment,
memory by memory,
building our life together.

Some days love comes easily.
Other days we are tired,
guarded,
more ready to defend ourselves than to understand.
A careless word can harden fast,
like mortar set before a brick was laid true.

Show us when we are building with pride
instead of truth.
Teach us when to speak plainly,
and when to be still and listen.
Give us courage to say what is honest
without using honesty as a club.

Keep us from making a house
with a cold heart inside it.
Keep us from keeping score
until love feels like a ledger.
When tenderness feels costly,
help us not to withhold it.

Make us into two people
who are quick to mend,
quick to forgive,
quick to come back together.

We cannot build this house by effort alone.
We are laying days brick by brick.
Lord, lay them on Your firm foundation.

Amen.