State Of Marriage

So, how is "Joe" doing? Haven't seen you guys in forever.
"Well,as a matter of fact, you will be seeing just me on this visit...We divorced a few years ago." This conversation seems to be am too familiar one.
I have to say though, we were not far from being the couple saying it. If it had not been for the awesome power of the Cross and the tools He brought to us through FamilyLife and the Weekend To Remember I do not know if I could be telling you that we are a happily married couple but thankfully I am telling you this. We will be celebrating 24 years of marriage this year and we are so blessed.

Every day I thank God for my spouse and though a few years ago I would think it would be impossible to say this, I can now truly and honestly say, "I am even grateful for the challenges we went through and had to overcome because they made us really fall to our knees and reach out to our Father." Today, I love my husband every day even more than the day before and I realize today that I now know the meaning of love when before I only understood the meaning of the feeling of love. We have taught our children that love is not a feeling but a commitment and a promise and it starts with our relationship with our Father and like Gary Thomas explains in his book, Sacred Marriage, when I look at my husband I must remember that his father is God and he must remember that my father is God. That revelation was very helpful to my husband. How often have we heard comments regarding our baggage coming into play into our new marriage? Here are just a few I can think of:

• To a girl- " You will end up being your mom!"
• To a man- "Look at your mother in law-that will be your wife!"
• To a girl- "Are his parents divorced? If so- yours will end up in divorce!"
• To a girl- " Did his dad ever cheat? He will too,you know?"
• To a boy- "You can't escape your dad's sins.  You  will repeat them!"
• To a girl- "You will end up marrying a guy just like your dad!"

Well, I am a pretty lucky girl since I do have a pretty great earthly dad. My dad tolerated 7 of us kids and was married to my beautiful mom for almost 45 years before she passed away and he did love her and I still remember the last look he gave gave her while she was still alert.  He even wrote a song for her and had his Broadway Opera Singer Brother sing it at the funeral.  But even my earthly loving dad made mistakes and does not compare to my Heavenly Father and thankfully my earthly dad taught me that. 

Unfortunately, many others are not as fortunate to have that great role model including my own husband which is why having that earthly imbalance can create issues.  Issues that could create irreparable damage.  Thankfully, knowing we both have the same  Heavenly Father evens the field.  Having the ability to go to getaways like Weekend To Remember or even a fun event like the Love Like You Mean It Cruise or Art of Marriage has made our married life even better.

I am so glad we have the opportunity to share these events with others and be part of leadership team.  We want to encourage you to never give up.  Even when you think it is over, PRAY.  Do not let divorce ever be an option.  Let that be the 4 letter option in your vocabulary.  Let me tell you that our marriage is better than it has ever been.  Our family has been blessed because God has blessed our marriage and rekindled our love.http://shop.familylife.com/events_1.aspx?categoryid=97&groupName=NorthGeorgiaTeam