A couple weeks ago, I wrote a blog about Marriage Club. I have more to share with you about it.
My wife, Sharlene, and I host this Marriage Club gathering one Friday night gathering each month. It’s made up of married couples and those couples who are working toward marriage. At every meeting we share a meal and then another half to three quarters of an hour watching a video and on a topic followed by discussion and prayer.
I love leading small group discussion. I study, pray and work to be prepared on the topic, yet the wisdom of God comes out so much better through the comments of the group’s members than through my individual preparation. One of the gifts God has developed in me is that of leading a group to find wisdom and answers in the group’s collaboration by questions, answers and discussion.
This happens in Marriage Club, so every couple leaves each time with an improved understanding of how to have a Godly, fulfilling marriage.
It’s so edifying when we hear other members talk about how they’ve experienced and overcome some of the same challenges we’re currently facing. What a blessing to hear the example of a couple we know living out Biblical marriage principles in real life.
Open, honest sharing of struggles may make couples feel vulnerable, but the reality is that we who are listening gain a deeper respect for them, and we all feel more comfortable opening up, ourselves, because of the example they’ve set. That happens on the regular in Marriage Club.
Community is a need everyone has. Community in our culture goes beyond that of previous generations when it was determined by geographical proximity. These days people drive across town for community because they find community in mutual interests and like situations. Marriage Club is community based on couples wanting to have the best possible marriage relationships. I’m not sure there’s a more important basis for community.
After doing Marriage Club for four years, I can say I’m better equipped as a husband because of members’ testimonies of how they’ve dealt with conflict, money problems and the difficulties of parenting, in-laws and communication barriers. And that’s happened for my wife and me, even as we’ve led the group.
So, again, I invite any couple who has interest to seek God about leading a Marriage Club of your own. For more understanding about starting your club, please read my previous blog by clicking on the “Marriage Club” title below.
2025 would be a great year to start something impactful, like a Marriage Club. I pray God leads you as you consider it.
