At the last class, Michael volunteered us (No, Michael, no!!) to be the couple who would share our experience with the homework assignment. So, at the start of this class, we each spoke to the group and revealed some of our strengths and weaknesses with the assignment (like the fact that we waited to answer some of the questions in the workbook until we got there!) and with our marriage in general.
We shared with them our monthly State of the Marriage Union Address idea, and they liked it so much that they referenced it throughout class. They seemed to sympathize with our weaknesses, and at times, we even had them laughing. At the end of class, people came up to us and thanked us for being so honest and open.
And... NOBODY volunteered to be the sharing couple for next week. Haha! They must have been terrified to be anything like us. I had to sit on Michael's hands to keep him from volunteering us again. And I weigh a lot more than I used to. It worked.
As I probably told you in a previous post, there are six different presenting couples that each take two nights throughout the year. Each couple presents on a different night. And then, we always have a brief video segment to watch. And then there's usually discussion questions or an activity to complete with the members of your group.
The homework assignments are cumulative, building each time upon the former. But we need this, so it's OK. Plus, we've seen the fruits. Our ability to communicate and pray together has improved. We're not perfect, but we're better. We're better because of this class and mostly because of God's grace.
This month, we have the exciting task of developing our marriage's mission statement. We're supposed to look ahead, dream of the legacy we hope to leave behind, and then begin NOW to BUILD that legacy through the use of a mission statement which can help guide us through major and minor life decisions.
The workbook has a wonderful guide in it to help you build an awesome marriage mission statement. There's a word bank of powerful words to choose from. I can't wait for us to get started.
In the meantime, I leave you with my personal mission statement, which I wrote years ago after having read The Path. It is:
To defend the dignity
Build upon the talents, and
Enliven the faith
Of all those I encounter
With mercy and child-like littleness
Oh, and I leave you with one other thing: Joolies and Greg lovin' on Liam before the start of class. :)
