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""Spouses' Serenity Prayer” by Terri Krupp (Adapted from Reinhold Niebur’s AA Serenity Prayer). “God grant me the peace to understand that my spouse was created exactly as you desired, for exactly the purposes you have, with all of the ability you implanted to become the best that they can be. While neither of us is perfect, you have bound us together in your perfect union, to experience the fullness of your love and your life, and reflect YOUR perfection in this marriage, to carry your light in this dark world. Our marriage, anointed in your grace and full of your purpose is the best reflection of Christ and the Church we can offer as a testimony.""

From: Spring Season

For many years I struggled to focus on the excellent things in my husband’s character. When he would have an occasional slip up it would bring to mind the long list I had been keeping about how I thought he had failed in our marriage. At about fifteen years of marriage I had prayed, “Lord, look at how this man needs to change!” God answered, “Don’t talk about my son, who I love just the way he is!” From that point on the Lord started to work on me instead. He taught me to focus on the great things God had imparted in my husband, His son. Turns out that list is significantly longer than the other one. Go God!

"The Marriage Advice Worth Passing Along When I was a teenager, I spent many of my weekends, when I was not busy with school activities, traveling on lay witness mission trips, LWM. These trips were aimed at helping little churches breathe life into their congregations. It would often bring a fire of the Holy Spirit into their youth program and their church as a whole. One particular LWM group I participated in was led by an old farmer, and his old wife, they have been married longer than I knew people could live. He had lost one arm at the elbow, in a combine accident, and his wife was a meek and quiet Farmer’s wife. When I was about fifteen years old this barn preacher gave a teaching to our youth group. He taught us what it meant to truly be yoked as Christ designed it. He said to us “marriage is not 50-50 It’s 100%-100%. “ That was mind blowing, I had never heard anyone teach about marriage like that. What he was saying was, marriage is not a give and take, it’s give and give. Jesus’ modeled that kind of sold out, servant leadership to His followers and to us His bride the Church. It is the true design God gave us to become one flesh. The preacher also challenged us to start praying for our spouse. Not who we would get as a spouse, not a romantic notion of happily ever after, but that our intended spouse would be protected and make wise decisions along the way. Although naïve, at the age of fifteen, I began praying for my future spouse. Both of us, it turns out, made many mistakes and poor choices along the way, but God is faithful and brought us through so we could eventually meet. Curtis and I both needed the prayer of others to get us to the place where God could bring us together. We continue to make praying for each other a priority. We have adopted a 100%-100% commitment to our marriage. We still have difficult days, arguments, and misunderstandings. There is no perfect relationship except between Jesus and His Bride the Church. Perfection is not the goal, persistence is!"

From: Spring - Who Am I? Section

Curtis and I have stuck to this 100% / 100% mentality as closely as possible. Or as Curtis likes to say, “Keep it a hundred!” It is the only way to truly live the Honeymoon Life.