Romance Uncensored

Marriage is a perfect reflection of the marriage of Jesus to His Bride, the church. No other humanly relationship was given the privelage of representing our Savior and His first love. What a testimony we are capable of having as married people!!! But how many people can look at our marriages and see the love that Jesus has for His church? Ouch. I definitely realized this weekend at Romance Uncensored the potential that we have as a couple to make a difference for the Lord without ever shoving a Bible in someone's face or preaching the gospel at the top of our lungs. Without saying a word, I can represent the greatest and most unconditional love the world has ever seen, the love that our Lord has for His children, His church, His first love.

I learned so much this weekend at the retreat. I was convicted and challenged to love my husband and my Lord even more so. Why? Because if your relationship with your husband is HOTT, so will your walk with God be, and vice versa. If we are passionately pursuing our Savior, obeying Him, being sensitive to His leadership in our lives, so then will we be wanting to honor Him by doing the same towards our husbands. Just realizing that God has given us such a sacred and special gift in marriage is so beautiful to me. It is more than just 2 people living together and loving one another. We are painting a picture of Jesus's love for us, His bride. WOW! Ryan and I had some really great, heartfelt conversations that drew us so much closer. After 2 years and plenty of ups and downs I can honestly say I love him more than ever. Sitting there beside my best friend, knowing no one in the world knows me or loves me or protects me like he does, just melted my heart. God has made us ONE! What a beautiful thought! Sometimes I feel so undeserving... that God would choose me to receive such a precious gift. I just hope that I can give Him honor & thanks by the way I love Ryan on a daily basis! I take that for granted so many times in the busyness and craziness of life.

After the friday night session they sent you out to go on a HOTT date (no doubles allowed). It was late so we opted to go to Applebees & do 2 for $20... we stayed there for quite awhile cuddled in our booth doing our "homework" from the retreat and just talking. I was so suprised as Ryan really opened up about a lot of things and that conversation will always be special to me. After, he took me for ice cream (the key to my heart) and then we went back to the hotel... We stayed at the Branson Motor Court, a little hotel from the 1940's that costs $40 a night. It was sooo cute! Super clean, very old fashioned, and we loved it! You can make anything romantic if you want to ;) The next morning we grabbed breakfast at Starbucks (FYI the fall flavored drinks are out now and oh my yum are they delish!) and then barely made it to the conference on time! After it was over we had lunch with some friends that also went to the retreat. It was so great to see these godly couples and their love for one another as we were all so excited for what God had done in our lives this weekend! I am thankful for godly couples to look up to!

Anyway, I'm so glad that God taught us these truths this weekend and that we can begin to apply them to our everyday lives. I want our marriage to be a testimony!!