Our Story for His Glory

Our guests for the third week of the "Five Years One Thing" series were Randy and Mindy McCright. They had a lot more than one thing to share, but they tied everything together. Each marriage is a story that God can use for His glory.

Randy and Mindy each prepared something separate to share.

Mindy went first. She said that she had learned that if you expecting too much out of your spouse, you will be disappointed, and you will put too much pressure on your spouse to live up to your expectations. It's unfair to your spouse. God is the only one that can fully satisfy us. So, she said, make the Lord your strength.

She also told us about the power of praise to counter expectations, especially her experience with a book called 31 Days of Praise. If you thank God for the good aspects of your spouse, you will be able to stop focusing on their weaknesses. But also, you can thank God for your spouse's weaknesses. God had a purpose in giving your spouse each weakness; your spouse is still wonderfully made!

Randy took the alliterative approach to preparation. His "S words" were

• Servanthood: Your marriage is not about you. Serving your spouse is more important to God.
• Security: There are many kinds of security. Guys, give your wife the security of knowing that you only have eyes for her. That's security that she really desires.
• Sacrifice: God gives us what we need. We can sacrifice the things we want. But we should focus on the fundamentals, the basics, of marriage (things like spending time together, expresing love to each other, and so on.)
• Success: Define success Biblically, not as the world defines it. Relationships are far more important than stuff.
• Sex: All of those other "S words" add up to this. Sex shouldn't be the objective of your marriage. It should be the result of a successful and secure marriage based on servanthood and sacrifice. "After the kids leave the house, what will you do with each other?"

Randy summed this up by saying "It's not what you do, but who you are." For the guys, that means man up. I'm not sure what the catchy phrase for the non-guys is. Your character is far more important than your stuff.

During the Q&A time, Randy and Mindy also shared some great advice. Among the things they shared:

• Have fun. Balance intentionality with spontaneity. [That balance will look different for each couple, but have fun with each other.]
• Establish principles in your marriage. Praying together regularly and asking for forgiveness were two principles that were mentioned.
• Pray "Lord, let us know what we need to know." It can apply to your marriage, to kids, or to any area of your life where you don't quite know everything yet.
  

This was one you really had to be there for. I definitely didn't capture all the information, let alone the fun and the laughter. When class finally wrapped up twenty minutes later than usual, we still wanted to hear more. Many thanks to Randy and Mindy for giving us this time, and for sharing part of the story of your marriage!

If there's anything that caught your ear, or just to continue the discussion, please post it in the comments.