{True Friends}

Last weekend I got to enjoy pastor Mark Driscoll & his wife Grace on their “Real Marriage” book tour.  Their conference has sold out all over the nation & here they were right in my neighborhood!  I honestly had never heard of this couple before, but when I started getting facebook messages & emails from friends around the country saying, “you better be going to this?!”, I decided I should look into it!  lol I’m SO glad I did!

Obviously, I wished I could have been there with Pat, but circumstances don’t allow for that.  My amazing, very single sister, braved the MARRIAGE conference with me. I think we can both say, we left changed.  Mark & his wife have been through so much & are very open about their failures in one another, but in their honesty, they reveal hope & grace from the Lord…the same grace that got them to where they are today, best friends!

I wish I could share everything I learned, but that would take one very lOng post.  You can refer to Mars Hill Church for his podcast on his book, Real Marriage.

I will share with one of my favorite lessons from their book, FRIENDSHIP.  The biggest lesson they’ve learned over many years has been, you must be true FRIENDS with your spouse in order to have a deep intimate relationship.  Most would say, well DUH!  There’s a lot involved in the kind of friendship he’s defining:

Fruitful, Reciprocal, Intimate, Enjoyable, Needed, Devoted, Sanctifying

*check out part 2 of his podcast to hear an explanation of each parts.

This seems so easy to me, obviously Patrick & I are friends, but their honesty about what a marriage friendship should look like was so enlightening.  Men & women are different & that’s just the bottom line, but that’s not an excuse.  We both have to be selfless & thinking of the other.  Since we’re human, this is a commitment everyday to serving, not just serving your spouse, but serving the Lord in how He calls us to love.  He tells us to love our enemies?!  That’s powerful.  I don’t know if I do that all the time…

We must see our spouse as the Lord sees him/her.  When we can do that, we can love no matter what the circumstances.

Ephesians 4:32 “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”

{Jcrew blouse, Victoria Secret pants, LV Speedy, H&M ring, Forever21 necklace, Thrifted earrings}

I hope you all have an amazing weekend!