Last weekend, Philip and I attended a marriage conference at our church, LifeChurch.tv. Most people assume if you're working on your marriage, there is something wrong with it. With a 50% divorce rate in this country, it seems people are more willing to spend time working on their careers, finances and even their gardens more than they're willing to work on their life long commitment to each other. We have a lot of stress in our lives (as do most people). While we don't have marriage "problems," we have a lot of things in our lives that could easily cause big problems. Philip and I working opposite schedules, him being in school and us having a one year old. All things that are problems waiting to happen... so why not work to avoid issues before there is one?!

I learned a lot that weekend. I almost didn't go....mostly because I was afraid they were going to sit us at a round table and make us talk about our sex life with strangers or something. It wasn't like that at all. It made me realize I need to be waaaay less controlling. Craig Groeschel had an amazing lesson about this topic a few weeks ago. God really spoke to me during this message. How do I expect to have a husband who will lead me, when all I do is beat him down with my words? When I nag and whine at him, I'm only discouraging him and weakening him. I learned I need to make my words helpful and supportive. It's a daily struggle. It's my nature to take control of pretty much every situation and make things how I want them. It's his nature to be passive and give me what I want. Not a good combination. It truly is a power struggle. It's my job to follow him, not control every situation.

Marriage is work, but it's the best work ever. I love knowing I have the best partner in the world to conquer any situation with.