The Love Dare

It's probably not a big surprise to those of you who know us well... but there was a point in our marriage where Rusty and I hit a pretty rough patch. I'm sure our story is not too different from many of yours, or the people you may know~too much effort put into work and the relationships there and the exact opposite happening at home. We started to grow apart. We weren't fighting, we just didn't have much to talk about. I went to work at a job I loved, teaching kindergartners, and he went to work at a job he had grown to feel was suffocating him. I didn't want to hear how unhappy he was and he didn't want to hear how happy I was. It didn't happen overnight~it was a slow, silent process. Looking back, it was purely just a lack of being very intentional with our time with the Lord and with each other. Thankfully, we were able to spend a lot of time figuring out what we wanted for our marriage. We knew we wanted a marriage that glorified our Father above all else. We also knew that we had fallen madly in love with each other so many years ago and that we had missed that more than anything else. God has been so good to us. He has used some of the most amazing people, some who have no idea how they have blessed us, to bring us to where we are now. We are so grateful!

One night last week, Rusty and I had a date night and went to see the movie, "Fireproof". It was an incredible movie and I recommend everyone go see it if you get the chance. In the movie there is a book called, "The Love Dare" that is used and it completely changes the marriage of the couple in the story. It inspired us so much that we began doing the love dare ourselves.

One of the things Rusty and I are committed to doing is praying and doing a devotional together every morning. The Lord has used this time to bring us closer than we have ever been and it always amazes me how He can take the words on a page and make them so pertinent to your relationship. We are now on day 8 of "The Love Dare" and it has been incredible! For those of you who don't know what the book is about... each day (there are 40) has a message and scripture to read and then at the end of the passage, there is also a "dare" for you to do for your spouse. Some days have been easier than others and some have sparked conversations we have been putting off for years. I highly recommend, whether your marriage is stronger than it's ever been (like I believe ours is today!) or whether you are struggling each day to find the reasons why you got married in the first place (like I felt at one time) that you check out this book. Happy Reading!