This weekend Kevin and I took a much-needed, child-free trip to Family Life's Weekend to Remember Marriage Conference in New Orleans. We had attended this conference once before- right after we first got married. It was SOOO needed then because we were trying to figure out how we could love each other so much yet dislike each other so much all at the same time! It's like once we began living in the same house, we saw each other through new lenses- the kind of lenses that notice things like toilet seats and toothpaste caps and smelly socks overtaking the bedroom. It didn't take long for us to realize that feelings and attraction wouldn't get us very far if we wanted our marriage to last until death do us part! (And killing each other was not an option! haha!) So, we attended the conference and learned a WHOLE lot about how different we really are and how God uses those differences to achieve His great purposes in our marriage.
The problem is, for anything to keep running smoothly, it needs regularly scheduled maintenance, right? So as we approached our four year wedding anniversary, we knew it was time to service the engine of our marriage, especially since our "us time" has sort of been hijacked by a certain high-energy one-year-old. So we signed ourselves up for another conference, and it was SOOO needed. Yes, we had heard all this stuff the first time, but now that we were in a new season of marriage, it was like hearing some of these things for the first time, with different ears- Mommy and Daddy ears. I, especially, was reminded that the WORST thing we can do for our marriage AND for Silas is to center our lives around Silas and put our marriage second. While parenting is a high calling, Kevin and I are FIRST called to be a living picture of Christ and His church through our marriage- what a great mandate! What a great reason to intentionally INVEST in our marriage!
We both came away with a sort of refreshment. It feels like a new beginning of sorts. I'm so thankful for my Mom and Dad's willingness to keep Silas so that we could enjoy our time together. And I'm also thankful for the couples in the picture below who took the time to invest in their marriages this weekend as well. It was a great time of fun, fellowship, and LEARNING for us all!
The problem is, for anything to keep running smoothly, it needs regularly scheduled maintenance, right? So as we approached our four year wedding anniversary, we knew it was time to service the engine of our marriage, especially since our "us time" has sort of been hijacked by a certain high-energy one-year-old. So we signed ourselves up for another conference, and it was SOOO needed. Yes, we had heard all this stuff the first time, but now that we were in a new season of marriage, it was like hearing some of these things for the first time, with different ears- Mommy and Daddy ears. I, especially, was reminded that the WORST thing we can do for our marriage AND for Silas is to center our lives around Silas and put our marriage second. While parenting is a high calling, Kevin and I are FIRST called to be a living picture of Christ and His church through our marriage- what a great mandate! What a great reason to intentionally INVEST in our marriage!
We both came away with a sort of refreshment. It feels like a new beginning of sorts. I'm so thankful for my Mom and Dad's willingness to keep Silas so that we could enjoy our time together. And I'm also thankful for the couples in the picture below who took the time to invest in their marriages this weekend as well. It was a great time of fun, fellowship, and LEARNING for us all!
Thankful for Marriage,
