Happy Monday! I hope you all had a great weekend. How is everyone surviving the cold weather? Trista, you hanging in there? :-) So how did everyone fair with Day 1?
" So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." Genesis 1:27
What a powerful verse. I never really thought about our marriage having a purpose. Having just gotten married and finished all the planning and events, my focus was just on the wedding day and reception. Of course we did a little pre marital counseling. But I don't remember the pastor ever specifically saying Ok Trina and Justin the purpose of your marriage is ______________. Does anyone else feel a greater responsibility now after reading today's study? I did. I thought wow... it's not just about me. It's not about my emotions or trying to get Justin to fill my expectations for what my idea of our marriage looks like. I did spend some time talking with Justin last night. I asked him what he thought the purpose of our marriage is. I was pleasantly surprised by his response. He said, " to come together through the commitment we made with God. To use each others strengths to walk in that path. Loving, encouraging, and caring for each other every step of the way." After hearing his response my heart was full of love and thankfulness for him. I am so thankful God gave Justin to me to be my helpmate, partner, and best friend. So did you guys have a chance to talk with your husbands about the purpose of your marriage? How did it go?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=2EpHxQyyCEw
This short video clip is from the author of the book. She made a short video for each day of this study. I will probably post a lot of them for our discussions.
I have also decided to commit the the social media status updates each day. Another cool thing we could do is post our prayer requests. I believe in the power of prayer. There is nothing more powerful than knowing you have a group of ladies committed to praying for you. Feel free to post any requests.
Day 1 has already opened my eyes a little wider to the bigger picture in life and in my marriage. Although it has only been nearly four years since we said our vows to each other and to God, I found it very easy to forget the bigger purpose Torey and I have in our marriage. It is simply to reflect God's selfless love. The verse from Genesis and even Jennifer's way of saying that we are each made to represent Him made me put aside my own personal desires and problems and look at living my life for God's bigger purpose. I almost feel a bit lighter after today's devotional - almost a sense of things being taken care of in my life by God so I can really live for Him.
ReplyDeleteMy husband travels quite often for work and tonight is one of those nights. I haven't yet talked with him about today's devotional, but he will be calling me this afternoon from the road. I'm really looking forward to seeing what his take on the purpose of our marriage really is.
My husband and I both come from different backgrounds spiritually, so I'm asking that you please pray for us to find common ground in our spiritual lives to move forward on.
Awesome Trista! Just curious how you and Torey's backgrounds differ? How did the purpose talk go?
ReplyDeleteDear Lord, I just want to lift up Trista and Torey to you. I pray that you will continue to bless their marriage. I pray that you will allow this study to enhance their relationship and that they will draw closer to you and each other. I pray that they will both be filled with your love and grace and they will agree to both allow you to be the center of their marriage and life. Amen!
Thank you very much, Trina!
DeleteBy the way, we're managing to stay warm (and inside) for the next few days! It is really depressing outside! I can't wait for spring. :)
Here is a little about our spiritual backgrounds.. Torey comes from a family that attended church weekly and his mom was an active member of the church band (she played guitar). Torey had lots of school friends that also attended his church and they went on retreats and such. Torey's family had a change of heart with their former church and doesn't attend regularly anymore. Torey doesn't really talk much about his faith or his experiences of his retreats, etc. I, on the other hand, was very active in church as an acolyte when I was young and attended church camp each summer. Then when I became a little older, I was active in our church youth group and in high school I was a part of numerous retreats called Faith Alive in Pittsburgh, PA, Happenings (probably close to five or six different weekends), and others. By choice, I found my faith in God through these amazing weekends and I love to talk about my experiences. That's where Torey and I differ. I love to talk about my faith and where I first experienced God and Torey doesn't. It's just something I hope to overcome during this devotional.
So far so good because he called earlier and we talked about today's devotional. He was very excited about it and said that he is looking forward to hearing about the devotional each day. He also totally agreed that we have purpose in a larger light and it was refreshing to hear we both can let the small things go. :)
I never thought about the "purpose" of marriage before today. After my husband and I discussed our thoughts on this, we came to the same conclusion. The purpose of our marriage is to love one another unconditionally, support each other in every way possible, and assist one another mentally, emotionally and spiritually throughout our lives. The last few months have been pretty difficult, and I realized that a lot of that difficulty could have been easily avoided.
ReplyDeleteI know that God has a plan for our marriage. Today I vow to let him control the path that we need to take in the days to come.
Wow! It's only day one and I'm already loving this devotional! Unfortunately, due to the difference in our schedules, I have not yet talked to Chris about what he believes is the purpose of our marriage. I can say that through the numerous hours of counseling that Chris and I have sat through, nobody has given us this prospective of marriage. Chris and I have learned the hard way, that every marriage MUST have God at the center. Most of our heartache has come when we choose to hold our own expectations of marriage, instead of letting God's purpose for our marriage shine through.
ReplyDeleteShauna, I can totally relate to how you said you and your husband have had heartache because you chose to have your own expectations of marriage. Torey and I have had arguments, etc and it all boils down to our own expectations we hold. Today's devotional really spoke to me to put those aside. Thanks for sharing. :)
DeleteAwesome discussion for Day 1. I am getting ready to post for Day 2 this afternoon. Get Ready :-)
ReplyDelete