Love and marriage, love and marriage.....

I heard this song (video below, not post title) for the first time last fall when we went to a Lifeway Festival of Marriage conference in Ridgecrest and Travis Cottrell led the worship. A girl on his praise team sang it and I was just blown away. How thrilled I was when I found out last night we will be singing it in choir (thanks Michael!). I still chuckle sometimes when I remember my middle school youth group and Travis was a student at Belmont and led our worship. He's come a long way from a little keyboard singing for some little kids. What a blessed songwriter, composer, and singer (he didn't actually write this song, or sing it for that matter---sorry, I'm jumping around. That's pretty much how my mind works). Regardless, this is a beautiful song.Oh, it's called "Revelation Song".

Speaking of the Lifeway Festivals of Marriage, I HIGHLY recommend them. We have
only been to a couple, but we are going to try to go every year from now on. They offer several sessions to choose from, keynote speakers, and amazing times of worship. Dale and Jena Forehand were the keynote speakers when we went last fall, and they were incredible. I like that they don't choose people to speak who have necessarily had fairytale marriages and just give you this fluffy advice. Dale and Jena had actually been through a bitter divorce, and an even more bitter custody battle; ironically, he was a deacon at their church and they taught a couples sunday school class while their marriage was falling apart. They have an amazing testimony to the healing power of God's love in their marriage. One thing I remember Dale saying is that reconciling with Jena after being divorced for a year and a half was not something he felt like he wanted to do; he didn't feel like he loved her, he didn't feel like he wanted to live with her again. But that God taught him that regardless of how he FELT, he need to be obedient. And that marriage was a choice; once he obeyed, God would heal and restore their relationship. They had been high school sweethearts, but over time and having children, they had not worked on their marriage, and had practically become strangers. I can so see how that can happen very easily. I'm learning over time that loving each other is not enough; it's important, but that won't marriage last forever, or make for a happy one. Years ago, when I would hear someone say that you really have to work at marriage, I'd think to myself, well, they obviously just don't have someone they really love. How naive I was. I'm so thankful I have someone I do really love, but that doesn't make it easy. So we'll keep on working. And going to conferences. (could someone please suggest to the powers that be that Ridgecrest is in DIRE need of some renovations??).