Scott and Rachel participated in last year's Art of Marriage group. Here is what they shared on Sunday, encouraging us to register for this year. It starts in October.
- Scott
Rach and I did the Art of Marriage series at the Cunningham’s a little over a year ago. Up until that point we had gone to a few marriage conferences and seminar type things throughout our marriage. That might come as a shock to those of you who think I need much more help as a husband than what 3 marriage seminars has to offer. I think I’m becoming a better husband since the Art of Marriage series.
I do more husband-ry type things these days like raising chickens.
I’d invite you to think of this group in the same way you would our small groups. Our small groups aren’t exclusively for those who are near rock bottom in their lives, or for those who are championing Christianity. It is for the members of our church to share in this life together, and meeting together is a precious and joyous occasion for us. The Marriage series is an extension of that except the scope is narrowed to marriage and the Gospel and the obvious fact that it’s only 6 meetings or so. The video content is exceptional, but God meeting us through transparency and vulnerability in community was much more profound. So whether you are newly married or have been married for a long time, whether you are at a low point, a mid point, or a high point in your marriage, it is good to come together to help one another’s marriages be a better parable of Christ and the church. Paul teaches in Ephesians that the covenant between husband and wife is meant to tangibly illustrate the covenant between Christ and his bride, the church. This series is meant to aid one another toward that end. A lasting benefit for Rachel and me is that we communicate better with one another and handle disagreement much better though it took a few awful disagreements in the car-rides over to the Cunningham’s before progress was made.
- Rachel
Like Scott mentioned, the community aspect of the group really blessed us. We were the youngest and most recently married couple of the group and with marriage and Christ in common, we got to spend time with some amazing couples that we wouldn’t be able to spend that much time with otherwise.
One of my biggest take-aways from the group meetings was from the personal stories of some of the amazing marriages of couples in this church. We talked about the reality of dry-spells and times of easy loving passion- the reality of the possibility of “falling out of love” and still choosing to glorify Christ with their committed marriages and the work it takes to see one another as Christ sees us: broken and in desperate need of eternal love.
We hope that if you can carve out some time, that you would choose to participate in the Art of Marriage group. Conversation with good people about learning to love your spouse more like Christ loves us is a good thing, no matter where you are in your marriage, if you are engaged or married for 30 years, we can all use this reminder.
