marriage takes work.

For starters, sorry for my lack of recent postings. Chris and I went away this weekend for a marriage retreat, which was great. It was our first "marriage retreat" and we really enjoyed it. There were several sessions of classes and activities that taught us more about our relationship and marriage in general. I walked away with several new ideas and goals. First, I thought more about the idea of being a story-telling community. The life I live, and the life I live with Chris, is a chance to tell a story about God. God can use Chris and I to communicate his love to each of us and to those who witness our relationship. That is both a challenging and exciting thought.

Chris and I also felt challenged by one of the couples who shared about their strengths and weaknesses over time. This couple shared about their strength of guarding their tongue. They, as a couple, have been careful with their words and just walked away in fights instead of lashing out with hurtful words. Chris and I had the chance to talk about how important it is to respect each other enough, even in a fight or tense moment, to not use hurtful language. We even talked about how, lightheartedly, we tease each other and even this could become hurtful. It is also important to Chris and I that we foster a loving, calm environment for our future children. Neither one of us want our children to be raised around lots of yelling or angry use of words. I wouldn't say this is common for us now, but I am glad we had a conversation about it so we are aware of what it could become.

Overall, I walked away from our first marriage retreat feeling very grateful for my husband. While we will always have things to work on, I am thankful to be married to my best friend, to have a life partner that makes me laugh so frequently and to already have so many wonderful memories with Chris.