i love this dude.

this weekend at church there was an amazing sermon on marriage and how it is a picture to the world of the gospel. it will be on our website by tuesday, right here, you should definitely take a listen :) obviously this guy can say it way more beautifully than i can! we are called to realize that our marriage is bigger than it just being about us and our comforts and what makes us happy and live in the bigger picture that we are painting- our husbands are to love us as Christ loves the church and we, as wives, are called to submit (which is not generally a word that i am drawn to) because our husbands love us in this way. so its not hard to submit to a man that loves us the way Christ loves the church- this is HUGE and this truth changes everything. i pray that our marriage would be a reflection of this and am so thankful that God calls us to live this way. also very thankful for a man that its easy to (er, submit) to because of the way he treats me and leads me. honestly, our marriage is far from perfect, but i know that God is continually rooting out the bad and making us more like Christ if we allow Him to.  this message was a beautiful and encouraging reminder that life isn't about us but that we are to point to the One it is about. the world has shattered everyone's view of marriage but if we love the way Christ loves us- in a sacrificial, generous, kind, unconditional, and outpouring way then we are free to offer forgiveness, acceptance, and restoration just like Christ's death on the cross offered us. So its not about trying harder or what we do ourselves, its about letting God work through us, we offer nothing, HE is everything.
here is a cool quote that he gave us: "The key question is this: will we approach marriage from a God-centered view or a man-centered view? In a man-centered view, we will maintain our marriage as long as our earthly comforts, desires, and expectations are met. In a God-centered view, we preserve our marriages because it brings glory to God and points a sinful world to a reconciling Creator." CJ Mahaney