No matter what type of car, every now and then, they all need a tune-up.
Whether a car is running a little fast, hesitating or just doesn’t get as good of gas mileage as was promised, a tune-up is in order.
Of course, if the ‘signs’ of needin’ a tweak here and there are ignored, real trouble can result sometimes, can’t it?
So it is with marriage – no matter how long someone has been married, every one could use a little tune-up now and then.
This week-end Dw and I had the opportunity to head to a marriage conference that our church was sponsoring. Emma graciously said that she wanted us to go and she would keep the kids for us.
I confess I was thinking…”Come on, now. We have a great marriage…we don’t really need to go, do we?” {Very dumb, I confess, but that’s why I’m writing this post. Confession is good for the soul, they say, right?}
The worship was phenomenal and before long the first speaker started….he and his wife have a national marriage ministry. And all I can say is that in the 45 minutes this man shared, he changed our marriage, with just one little insight he had. Seriously, I was dumbfounded. He nailed marriage so well, I am still shaking my head.
His concept, which is too long to explain, boiled down to what a woman is really saying when she asks a question…and what a man is really saying, when he answers.
Simple, but profound.
He even has a card on the internet that men can download and print out and carry in their pocket {we were laughing so hard I had tears}.
We have had a wonderful marriage. It’s been awesome for 34 years, but if there was one thing we were going to not see eye-to-eye on, this was it.
Who knew the man would cover it in the very first session?
From then on, everything else was just sprinkles on the sundae.
So the point of this post, is that whether your marriage is rockin’ awesome or needs some fine-tuning or a whole new transmission, if you have the opportunity to go to a marriage conference – GO!!
To think that I almost missed it.
Is there a chance that you were listening to John and Stasi Eldredge?
I have read their books and they are simply amazing!
Though I have been happily married for 28 years, I don't think it ever hurts for a little "refresher course." Sometimes after this long, I find myself forgetting what a wonderful man I have. It doesn't take long when hearing some of my friends speak of their husbands that I realize just what a jewel I have. I am blessed! As we get older, I try to tell him that often. When we were younger, I didn't realize just how important that was!
Ha! About four years ago my husband and I were asked by some good friends of ours to attend a marriage "class" (it was on dvd). We balked at the idea because we thought we were good and didn't need anything else. The reason we eventually said yes was because the whole idea of the class was to help support a few other couples who were also good friends whose marriages were in distress.
Boy were we in for it. We got so much out of it that we became monthly supporters of the ministry and have highly recommended their books and dvds to other couples.
Believe me, I know exactly what you are saying in this post (even if my own comment kinda doesn't make sense!).
Can I ask which seminar you attended and will there be another soon! I would love to go for a tune-up!
We went to one a few years ago. WOW…it helped us. There were things we'd done for years that turned out to not be good for us but we were still loving each other. I'd go to another one if I had the chance. Thanks for the insight.
Sounds like none other than Emerson Eggerich! We discovered this about 6 years ago and thankfully we are not the same couple. Glad you had the chance to get away and hear something so profound.