We all know that anything worth having is worth working hard for. Unfortunately, sometimes we forget that keeping things can require just as much hard work as getting them in the first place – hence the phenomenon of the school child who will slave away earning pocket money to buy a pet only to neglect it once the novelty wears off. Sadly, many marriages suffer the same fate!
The Marriage Course is not rocket science. Neither is there anything magical about it. It’s a course developed by wise and realistic people who know that a good marriage is only ever the product of hard work. It’s hard work because at the heart of a good marriage is the need to sacrifice your own needs and desires in order to meet the needs and desires of your husband or wife. I wonder how many of us realised when we first got married what a challenge this would be!
This hard work must take two forms – hard work IN the marriage and hard work ON the marriage. Hard work IN the marriage is just the daily, even momentary decision-making in which we recognise that our choices effect our spouse and so we work hard to put each other first. Hard work ON the marriage is quite different and its what the marriage course is all about. Because life is so busy, we hardly ever make the time to hit pause, take a step or two back from our marriage and make a true and honest assessment of how we’re travelling. Amidst all the clamour of daily life, it’s all too easy for our marriage to drift off course and we don’t even realise it’s happening. Neither do we know the way back!
The Marriage Course provides an EXCELLENT opportunity to put in some hard and absolutely necessary work ON your marriage. The course covers 7 topics central to EVERY marriage – understanding marriage and knowing your spouse; the art of communication; resolving conflict, the power of forgiveness, parents and in-laws; good sex; love in action – and provides video input followed by time for couples to discuss the health of their marriage in each area.
If you think your marriage doesn’t need any help, then maybe the marriage course isn’t for you – but check with your spouse first!
The Marriage Course begins at 7:30pm Thursday 7th August and runs for 7 weeks in the church building, Park Ave East Lismore.
I don’t know if this is too late to encourage anyone to go to the marriage course because it really is a great chance to sit & talk openly to one another. Wade & I did the course 2years ago and still try and put into place the helpful strategies that were suggested for communicating. We love being told that we need to have ‘marriage time’ (either a fun time together as a couple or a chance to talk more seriously)