marriage retreat

This last weekend, Mother's Day weekend, Zach and I went on a marriage retreat from Friday to Sunday. It was incredible!! We hadn't ever gone on a marriage retreat and it was just what the doctor ordered!! Not that Zach and I were in a crunch or are having problems or have a horrible marriage, but the best way to be preventative is to be proactive. I loved it!! We went to a camp outside of Dumas, which is about 2 hr and 45 min. It's a LONG drive, especially for a pregnant woman!! :)

I learned a lot about my man this weekend. You know, stuff that even if I do realize about him, once it's reinforced or said by someone else it seems to stick a bit better. The biggest thing that was "re-stuck" in my heart and mind was this phrase:

Men need daily affirmation.

ok and maybe this one too:

A man's ego is the most fragile thing on the earth.

I found the second statement to go hand-in-hand with the first statement. I also know that most men wouldn't admit to the second statement but would probably wholeheartedly agree with the first.

When I daily affirm my husband, our marriage moves much more smoothly. He is more sensitive to my needs/wants, and in return I am more respectful to his role in our home, which is the leader and protector. Knowing that he submits to our Heavenly Father also allows me to let him be the leader and protector.

I knew this stuff. I had read it and knew it. But I wasn't daily living it.

Before we got married, we found a verse that we claimed for our marriage, our home and our life together. I'll let you in on what it is.

Colossians 1:17 "He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together."

We never realized just how important this verse would be to us or how much we would actually cling to it. With 2 miscarriages, family deaths, births, moving, remodeling, arguments, typical life, this verse continually popped out. We are always reminding each other that Jesus has already gone before our situation and He WILL hold it together. Knowing this gives us the courage that we need to daily choose to be married. I love my husband, and the enemy knows it, so the enemy is daily trying to sabotage it.

Kinda heavy for this morning, but I pray that you are able to find joy in your marriage today and know that Jesus has gone before this Thursday and He will hold it all together!!