I have talked to a few people lately that seem like the walking wounded. I wish I had pearls of wisdom to share with them, but I don’t. But maybe you do.
How do you trust again when you have been betrayed by those you trusted the most? How do you let people in close to you, when those closest have turned against you?
(Even though Kim wrote this, I totally had to add this smooching picture of Jud and I from the Boneyard.)
Did you know that we lock lips for an average of 336 hours over a lifetime? That means two weeks of our lives are spent kissing. Also- you burn up to six calories a minute kissing! An extra benefit from kissing is that it can also help you look and feel younger. I don’t know about you but I can’t think of a better way to spend two weeks. A kiss from my kids in the morning sets my day off to a great start. A kiss with my husband after a hard day can ease some stress. There is something in “puckering up” that helps me have a better day. What about you?
We love football at our house. The Dallas Cowboys in particular. We can’t help it – we’re Texans. They say that the “best offense is a good defense.” I’m not sure that helps us much on the football field, but Jud and I totally put that in to play when protecting our marriage. Here are a few of the things that we do.
- Jud doesn’t meet with women alone … not for lunch, not for counseling, not at all.
- I won’t be alone with any guy, friend or not, either. Not that there is much occasion for that.
- As much as possible, Jud doesn’t travel alone. If he does, he tries to stay with friends once he reaches his destination. It can’t always be done, but he tries the best he can.
What is your “defense?” What are some practical things you do to protect your marriage?
I didn’t use to worry much about affair proofing our marriage. I guess I thought that we were somehow immune. But over the last 12 years that we’ve been together, we’ve watched friends and co-workers fall in this area of their lives. We watched as hurt and destruction has come into their families, marriages, ministries, churches and careers. It is terrible. Horrible.
That is when I learned the truth of this (paraphrased) statement by Gordon MacDonald: Your most ungaurded strength is your greatest weakness.
I don’t know how many times I thought, “No way! Not them! Not their marriage!” before it finally hit me – that could totally be us if we didn’t really work to protect our marriage as well.
Thoughts?
Friday, we got to see our friends, Jayson and Janice French. We did some hanging out at the beach and even though we hadn’t seen them in several years, it felt like we had hung out last week. I love friendships like that!
I love how quickly and permanently God can bind people together. Janice and I knew each other for two years before we moved to California. Two years … but I’m so grateful. Janice is now on my prayer team. If you want to find out about that click here, and and here, and and here.
When we moved, I was so upset. Janice said, “I am going to pray for your new best friend and that you find her quickly.” It was one of the kindest and best things someone has prayed for me. God has been so good to continually add new, wonderful, close friends every place we’ve moved – He knows I need that kind of relationship in my life. Now any time we, or some of our friends move, this is a prayer that I pray too.
What had been one of the great prayers that someone else has prayed for you?
