Kirk Franklin Honors Wife Tammy, Talks Marriage on Anniversary
Kirk Franklin recently honored his wife, Tammy, on their 19th anniversary and shared some insights about how their marriage has stayed intact over the years.
Franklin, 44, is a staple in the gospel music industry with his own Sirius XM radio station, Kirk Franklin's Praise, television hosting gigs on The Game Show Network's "The American Bible Challenge" and BET's "Sunday Best." But more than just a well-known Christian entertainer, Franklin is a husband who recently blogged about how his wife and God changed his life.
Franklin took to Twitter to share a blog post on Patheos.com, where he spoke about his marriage. After meeting Tammy at a swim party when he was 18, Franklin asked his wife to marry him.
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He spoke about his wife contributing to his successful career.
"I had no idea of the huge weight of seriousness in that request; no one does at the time, but I can tell you, the man, the music, and my ministry would be dead on arrival if I would have never asked the girl of my dreams to marry me," Franklin wrote on Patheos. "It takes a lot for a man to fall in love, it takes even more for him to STAY in love. I love how my mentor Tony Evans says it: 'the reason why God commands us 'till death do us part' is because it takes that long to get to know someone!'"
While Franklin acknowledged that he never had a positive example of marriage in his own life, Tammy came from a family that offered her one. The gospel super producer spoke about the importance of his wife helping him become a better man instead of beating up on him.
"That beat up feeling is universal to every man no matter your socio-economic condition," Franklin wrote. "So we need a light; a beacon; someone to say, 'Get up. Fight.' Tammy did that."
In his younger days, Franklin admitted that he thought marriage was boring and that he would lose himself in it. However, that feeling has changed since being with his wife.
Still, the Christian entertainer added that it has not been easy.
"Has the marriage had days I wanted to walk away, quit, leave? But not from her. From me," Franklin said. "Remember, I was selfish. So selfish."
He also spoke about the motivation for keeping his marriage together which is God, his wife, and family.
"I'm so grateful God canceled my stupidity. I want to be married forever," he wrote. "I never want to embarrass my wife by ever cheating and breaking her trust. Embarrassing the Lord, my children, or ever be in a restaurant across from another young man thinking about marriage and see an unloving couple."
Tammy previously spoke to Going Beyond Ministries about how she maintained being a good wife in her marriage.
"Quite often, we have more of a 'takeover' spirit and we put the label of 'helping' on it. In fact, we take over a situation and handle it the way we want it to be handled, or the way we think he should do it," Tammy told Going Beyond in 2012. "I've learned for me that truly being a wife is listening to my husband's needs, dreams, and even at times, his need to vent and for me to simply listen and not try to fix it. And above all say a lil' prayer."
