Marriage Part 2

Nope, I haven't forgotten about my challenge if you wanna call it that to post about the marriage conference that Michael and I went to, life has just been a little busy lately. This post will be another long one, I'm going to try and get out all we did on Saturday. It was an all day Saturday thing, but was so worth it.. I say all day, we did get to go on a date Saturday night, that one of the key parts of the conference is getting to do something special with your spouse Saturday night. Well I guess I'll just jump right in.

Session 3 was on Unlocking the Mystery of Marriage and God's purpose for Oneness.

Think about this, what if marriage is about more than just your happiness, have you ever thought about that? I know I sure hadn't.. I always thought marriage was about being happy. So what is the purpose of of being married? First it's to mirror God's image, Genesis 1:27 says "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." God created man and woman so they can together mirror his image. Our oneness is a living picture of this intimate relationship between Jesus Christ and His followers (Ephesians 5:22-33). Our oneness is expressed within a lifetime commitment to each other. The second purpose is to mutually complete one another (to experience companionship). Companionship in marriage is God's provision to replace isolation and meet our deep longing for a close intimate relationship. Genesis 2:18 says "It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him." Oneness in a marriage is only possible when we consider our spouse BEFORE we consider ourselves. (I know at times this is hard for me, not just because I but myself first but I also put Whitnee first, I have to remind myself that I need to put Michael before myself and even before Whitnee at times, I'm sure I'm not the only one who has that problem). Satan's purposes are threatened by couples who are becoming one; therefore, Satan concentrates his major attacks on them. REMEMBER YOUR SPOUSE IS NOT YOUR ENEMY!!

Session 4 from how to wow God's plan for oneness

Oneness grows as we receive our spouse as a gift from God. Our culture's pattern for marriage has obviously failed. God's plan for oneness in marriage involves three responsibilities: you bust leave, cleave and become one flesh. First, LEAVE, the first responsibility is the establish independence from your parents. Genesis 2:24 says " Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother.." leaving must be done in the context of honor to one's parents. It is essential that your spouse is the PRIMARY relationship in your life! Be careful to not be financially dependent on your parents. the degree to which you leave is the degree to which you can cleave. Second, CLEAVE: establish commitment to one another. God created Adam with an unmet need: Adam was alone, Genesis 2:18 says "Then the Lord God said "it is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him." An important question for Adam was, would he receive Eve? "Then the man said, "This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man." - Genesis 2:23. In that passage God illustrates a corner stone principle for marriage: we must choose to receive our spouse as God's perfect provision for us. The Third responsibility is to establish intimacy with one another. Becoming one flesh is not just getting married or having sex; it is a process that helps us grow as individuals and grow closer as a couple. This growth begins as we break dependencies from our past and cleave each other. So why is God's plan difficult to experience? First off it's because of our natural differences. Differences are God's tools to teach us to trust Him and His goodness. Second is our natural weaknesses, weaknesses have divine purposes in our lives. Third is because of our natural self-centeredness, we must admit that we are selfish.

Session 5 was on What every marriage needs, God's Power for oneness.

To truly experience oneness in marriage, we must first experience the power that comes from oneness with God. Oneness in marriage is the result of fulfilling God's purposes ad following God's plan for marriage. Oneness with god begins as we establish a relationship with Him and continues as we experience an ongoing relationship with Him. First, establish a relationship with God. Oneness as at the center of God's original design for marriage. Adam and Eve's oneness with God was the centerpiece of their marriage relationship. Oneness was destroyed when Adam ad Eve rejected God and His plan for life. Oneness was destroyed between mankind and God. Oneness with God is possible because of Jesus Christ, because of his death, burial, and resurrection, the path to oneness has been restored!
I'm so thankful that I'm able to have that oneness and then in turn be able to have oneness with my hubby!!

Session 6 was we fight too, a conflict survival guide (don't we all need this one?)

How a couple resolves conflict reflect the state of their oneness. Conflict is common in ALL marriages! The goal is to not be conflict free, but to handle it correctly when it occurs. First, where does conflict come from?  Conflict occurs when our desires are ot fulfilled when we don't get what we want, our unfulfilled desires may result in anger. Our unfulfilled desires lead to fighting and quarreling and for conflict to be resolved both husband and wife must be committed to oneness. Second, resolving conflict requires loving confrontations, being able to "fight fair" and remembering your spouse is NOT your enemy!! Third Resolving conflict requires forgiveness. The bible teaches that as a Christian we are responsible to God to seek out and grant forgiveness! Lastly, we minimize conflict when we actively choose to bless one another in marriage.

Sessions 7.. I think I'm gonna keep this one to myself, it's on sex. How intimacy is a great thing, and God created it for us to enjoy when we get married. I don't wanna spill all the details.

Wow I hope you all stuck around! I know my fingers hurt from typing! Please remember I didn't come up with this on my own, this just little snippets from the book they gave us, there is so much more to each session that I didn't even include, God did an amazing thing that weekend. I encourage each and everyone of you to try and make it to a conference. If you are planning on throwing in the towel try this conference first. Let me know, so I can show you how to get connected and so I can be praying for you and your marriage! My prayer for my marriage is that Michael and I will leave a Godly legacy behind for Whitnee, and our future children if God blesses us with more. I want to be the couple that Whitnee and her husband look up to, I want to be the couple that our youth can look up to and pray they have that one day. I know that if Michael and I are seeking God's face together we will be that couple!

God bless you all!