My Marriage > _________?

In our first year of marriage, Doug and I were invited to attend a marriage retreat. Actually, we were gifted the retreat, so it's more like we were forced. Doug was beyond reluctant to go... nightmares of bunking with other couples and talking it out Dr. Phil style for all to hear had him seriously concerned. But it wasn't any of that. It was simply solid time together, to reflect, reconnect, and relax. And Doug will tell you, it was the best thing he'd ever been forced into.


At the retreat that year, we committed to putting at least one weekend aside annually to get away from the chaos, the kids, work, whatever, and solely focus on God and each other, our marriage triangle. It's been nearly 5 years now of upholding our commitment, attending the same marriage retreat regardless of moving or more and more kids. But after inviting our local church to join us last year and realizing this year's retreat may not happen, Doug and I knew it was time to share what we had been blessed with and start one right here.

But this time, I was the reluctant one. It wasn't speaking up for marriage that I was afraid of, I honestly thought marriage ministry could well be something we ended up doing together, one day. I just had assumed and hoped it would be twentysome years from now so we could publicly say:

"Hi, we're Doug and Michelle, we've been married for over 25 years, have multiple grown children, and here we are now, still smiling, so you best listen to our wise, experienced advice."

But God wouldn't have it that way. Instead it's:

"Hi, we're Doug and Michelle, we really haven't been married too long, we have a bunch of little kids running around us constantly, and life is getting kind of messy...BUT we made a commitment to each other above all of that and we will intentionally do all we can RIGHT NOW to honor each other and our marriage."

We simply want to encourage other couples... just married, decades married, re-married, to make your marriage your priority. Because the kids will grow up and go. Eventually you'll retire from that hectic job. And you can be certain circumstances will change. But God-willing, your spouse will be remain by your side. So make your marriage your priority, right now and in every moment!

Consider joining us for a time away to renew your marriage.

COM 101 - Intro to Prayer

Isn't it absolutely insane that the God of the universe actually cares enough about you that He specifically told you to bring your needs to Him? Sometimes it blows my mind and other times I think, "Well, of course that makes sense." As a mom, the one who gave birth to my children, I could only hope that they would come to me in times of need. Just the same, the One who created you desires that you bring your little and big concerns before Him, so that they can shrink in His powerful presence.

 It's not so much an attitude of "Don't worry, be happy". 

But instead, God says, "Don't worry, talk to Me about it."

Phillippians 4:6 says plain and simply, "Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything." 

EVERYTHING. Nothing is too little or too big for Him to handle. He WANTS you to bring it to Him. 

The verse goes on to say, "Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus." 

When you thank God and ask God, He will bring you peace. This peace comes from relationship with Him and a relationship requires communication. When it comes to prayer, it is not selfish to put yourself first sometimes. He wants you to get insanely honest with Him, run to Him to celebrate your highs, and fall in complete desperation at His knees. He wants intimate conversation with and about you. If I remember anything from my COM degree it's the following definition that got pounded into our brains: communication is when a sender gives a message and a receiver hears the message and provides feedback. I drew a version of this model, much like the one below, on many exams (if not every flippin one!). But if we want relationship with our Creator there has to be communication (*medium = PRAYER).

Even though God knows your heart before you speak a word out of your mouth, He wants you to talk with Him about yourself, not just to be heard, but because He knows it will bring you peace. And also because He just wants to chat with you... you're His child and He wants to know what's up. Again, much like typical a parent. When we know something is wrong with our child's heart and maybe we may even already know the exact reason why, we still desire that they talk to us about it because 1) we care! 2) they'll feel better if they admit it out loud, and 3) we can most likely help them with it.

Likewise... God definitely cares enough, He told us prayer gives us peace beyond understanding, and God (unlike us) is most definitely equipped to do something about it! So go ahead... He already gave you His Message, now give Him some feedback. Chat it up. He's waiting for your call.