A Celebration of Marriage

This weekend we had to go on a marriage retreat for our Tuesday class. Most of the time, I would have been overjoyed, but to tell you the truth, we have been very busy and it seemed like we should not have gone. BUT we needed to be there- now more than ever.

It was great. Spending a whole day on working on our relationship. We both feel refreshed! Our teachers have been married for 50 years!! I love them. They have really helped Hans and I sort through some of our emotions and thoughts. Their life's purpose has been to not only serve Christ, but to help enrich marriages- especially in ministry. The legacy they have left and continue to leave on this earth is powerful. They say things that everyone needs to hear. They make it sound like you are not the only one who feels a certain way.

We were able to set goals for our marriage/ family. We were able to pray with each other for an extended period of time. We had a forgiveness ceremony and a vow ceremony. It was a difficult weekend with all the emotions that are still hot over what just happened in our previous ministry. The session we talked about the benefits and downfalls of ministry was excrutiating to us. It is getting better, but I feel sometimes that we will always carry our wounds around from what went down.

We have come away from this retreat with a vision of maybe one day bringing Marriage Enrichment to other people either in a church or a class or a retreat. We are coming up on our 10th year in marriage (next summer actually!) What I have learned is that marriage is a series of choices... choices involving love, commitment, respect, consistency, time, and basically intentionality. What we choose is powerful, and we choose to fight to have a healthy marriage, even when it seems things, forces, or jobs are against us.