The 50 Fridays Marriage Challenge by Jeff Helton

Author:Jeff Helton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Howard Books

28

CHEERLEADERS

CHALLENGE 28

Who cheers for your marriage? Who are the encouragers for you as a husband or a wife?

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

—1 Thessalonians 5:11

For more than two decades, nine of Lora’s girlfriends from her days at Taylor University converge every other year on someone’s house for a long weekend. These few days are packed with retelling old stories and giving updates on new journeys. Family pictures provide updates on children who have grown and transitioned. There are moments of laughter and moments of tears. There are stories of blessing and brokenness. Stories of hope and hurt . . . of faith and fear . . . of love and loss.

Updates on their marriages are always a staple item at these reunions. Through vulnerable and transparent sharing, they ultimately have the opportunity to support, confront, and encourage one another as wives. Allowing others to really know what’s going on opens the door for growth with one another and in their marriages. When these girls met in the early eighties, none of them knew that God was knitting their hearts together for a lifetime adventure. So much of what they learned then continues to impact them almost three decades later! It’s amazing to see them still enjoy a shared faith and values.

Lora and her friends are really blessed. Few of us have maintained friendships with that many people for so many years—especially friendships that encourage us to walk by faith, love our spouses well, and engage the world. And yet we all need relationships like that, whether they’re with old or new friends. Our marriages benefit from cheerleaders who encourage us and support us and, at times, challenge us to grow. We may connect with those people through church, shared hobbies, neighborhood gatherings, or a variety of other ways. One of the best and easiest ways we’ve connected with other couples is through a small group or through an intentional mentoring relationship. Those environments help set up an expectation of authentic sharing and caring.

So who are those people for you? Who is cheering for intentional growth toward intimacy in your marriage? If you’re in a season where you’re not experiencing this, how could you find another couple to walk with? What would it look like to initiate with someone and spend time together, really getting to know them? As you’re discussing today’s question, also consider its flip side: Where are you and your spouse the cheerleader for other marriages? Who is a couple that you could intentionally invest in?

That may be the place to start!

A marriage is not a joining of two worlds, but an abandoning of two worlds in order that one new one might be formed.

—Mike Mason, The Mystery of Marriage

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