As many of you know, we recorded a DVD series this past summer. As part of the production process, we started a focus group this past week to help us download the "homeruns" in the teaching.  We have a wide variety of couples in our group which range from a dating couple to empty nesters and grandparents.  This past week was our first week and it was awesome.  We discussed our teaching on being SAFE MATES.

As we talked about being available as the first element of being a SAFE MATE, we listened to the focus group and were reminded of how easy it is to let so many other things take us away from our marriages (you know this is true of our relationship with God too!)  Our days run together with so much to do and so little time.  Then these days turn into weeks and weeks turn into months and before you know it, you have not spent any meaningful time with your spouse (or your Savior).

Too many couples today are exhausted, over committed, and stressed.  Many days, they have very little to give one another because they have given to every one else (their employer, their kids, their friends, their church, etc.)  No wonder so many marriages are emotionally bankrupt.  I am sure this is why Dr. James Dobson says that "over-commitment and exhaustion are the most insidious marriage killers a couple will ever face!"

A "Marriage Must" in this fast-paced, highly demanding world is to be a SAFE MATE.  Safe Mates are couples who have figured out how to stay emotionally connected even in a busy, you do your role, I do mine world.  SAFE MATES hold each others hearts well.  They are intentional about spending time together.  They sit down with a cup of coffee, no TV and have an awesome conversation about where they are in life. They are AVAILABLE and emotionally present in their marriage.

Listen gang...life is flying by...it is changing every day.  You better slow down, enjoy the moment, let all that other stuff go for a while and spend some time together as a couple.  It is a marriage must.  So why not right now pick up the phone, call your spouse, get a baby sitter, go for a walk or to dinner and really be available for one another!  We believe you will be blessed when you do!

Dale and Jena


 

We love watching the Biggest Loser.  We love it because down deep, the show offers so much more than the grueling work-outs with Bob and Jillian, the mega-drama with all of the game playing between the contestants, the excitement of the final weigh in and the suspense of finding out who is getting voted off.  Biggest Loser for us is really about the power of a transformed life.  The show reminds us:  there really is a chance for someone to change their life.  People really can be set free from their past, their failures, their disappointments and pain. 

Spiritually, this is EXACTLY why Christ came and what Christ offers.  He offers us the unbelievable opportunity to become transformed.  Remember what he said when he started his public ministry?  His mission statement if you will, was to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim freedom for the prisoner, to recover sight for the blind, and to release the oppressed (Luke 4: 18-21).