Dale and Sharon

I was SO mad, I thought I would explode! And the contents of that explosion would have been hazardous to anyone in my path—namely Dale!

Anger was emanating from every pore of my being. What was he thinking? How could he not see the obvious? The more these thoughts swirled in my head, the madder I got! And he didn’t seem to care about my feelings, either! He just looked at me. That was it! I decided to pack the kids up and leave.

And (the nerve of him!) he didn’t even ask where I was going! The suitcases said it all!

I wasn’t thinking rational thoughts. I just left in the storm of it all.

Oh, boy. Those were the days. I’m so glad that was then and now is now. It was many years ago. Yeah, he said a lot of things and did a lot of things that I didn’t understand. It was like we were from two different planets with totally different brain and emotion function.

If you read my blog post Love Potion, you’ll remember I said there was a turning point in my marriage. Within a year of God working on me, my marriage started to change.

If you’re visiting me today after reading my devotion To Have and To Hold from P31 or Crosswalk, welcome! If you haven’t read it, you should!

Truth be told, most marriages will struggle at some point. The real question is: How will you handle it when it’s yours that is struggling? I can tell you from personal experience, if you focus on your spouse’s faults, the conclusion isn’t marital bliss.

There were three key things that radically changed my marriage. It took time for me to adapt to the changes, but I felt God’s leading and His pleasure in it all. A perfect marriage isn’t forged in a day, but the time and energy invested in it will last a lifetime. It’s worth the effort, and YOU WILL reap what you sow—I promise.

Getting back to the story… After being gone from Dale for 24 hours, I couldn’t stand it any longer. I came home, and we made up.

I’m a bit on the strong willed side, so it probably took me longer than it will take you. But when necessary changes were made, our marriage radically changed for the good. I’m talking the highest happiness of wedded life here!

Colossians 3:12-25 basically says: Extravagant love is the bond of perfection. Love is merciful, kind, long suffering, forgiving, bears all things… Verse 23 says, “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord…” So, if we love our husbands extravagantly (heartily), the reward is great. Christ loved us extravagantly. He didn’t love us because we deserved it. He sacrificed everything for love. Extravagant love can transform an ordinary marriage into an extraordinary one, induce greater love, ignite intimacy, help us live above our weaknesses, and spend less time quarreling!

On May 30, 2013, from 8:00-9:15 PM EST, I’m going to do a marriage conference call—Extravagant Love. I’ll share the three things that changed my marriage, and then you can ask me questions at the end of the call! Sign up today for the Extravagant Love Conference Call! (Sorry men, this call is for wives- maybe I could get Dale to lead one for the husbands? )

I’m going to give away 3 free Extravagant Love conference calls. Leave a comment below to enter your name in the drawing. Just tell me in one word what you need help with in your marriage. Winners will be announced next Wednesday.

Subscribe to my blog or RSS feed to get all updates about the upcoming call!