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We’re in a series about different ministries in Campus Crusade. Scott and I have an opportunity to serve these ministries through our roles at the World Headquarters in Orlando, Fla. This month is about FamilyLife.

Are You Thinking What I’m Thinking?

The only sound was the whir of our tires on 70th Street.

Scott and I had gone to see Fireproof for our date night on Halloween and now quiet blanketed us in the truck. The movie impressed us—even with a low budget and volunteer actors—with the real issues surrounding marriage. We’d discussed the movie for a bit, but now silence fell as we drove back to my parents’ home.

I’d love to talk more, I thought. We’ve only been married six months. In the movie they’ve been married seven years. I wonder what our marriage will look like at that stage?

I looked over at Scott. He looked deep in thought.

I wonder what’s he’s thinking about. Maybe about the 40-Day Love Dare? Or that scene where Caleb smashed the TV with his bat?

I wish he’d hold my hand, whatever he’s thinking.

“Do you think your dad has leftover Halloween candy?” he suddenly asked, with a staid expression.

I couldn’t help but laugh. “You’ve got to be kidding me. Is that what you’ve been thinking about?!?”

Like a kid with his hand in the cookie jar he confessed. “Um. Yeah.”

We both rolled.

Let’s just say we’re still learning about this amazing thing called marriage—and differences between men and women. Six months of marriage has not made us experts, but rather made us very aware of our need for Jesus to be in the center of it all—bliss and conflict and everything in between.

FamilyLife is the marriage and family ministry of Campus Crusade. Recently, they teamed up with the makers of Fireproof to encourage couples to see the movie, then take the 40-day “Love Dare” challenge. (Listen to the FamilyLife radio program.)

copy-of-dscn0309Besides the radio ministry, FamilyLife is probably best known for their marriage conferences, called A Weekend to Remember. Scott and I are fans after attending a three-day conference while engaged and becoming friends with the speakers, Dave and Peggy Jones (left). Read these responses from an October conference in New York where the Joneses were on the speaker team.

· “My wife and I have been on the brink of divorce for more than nine years, and this weekend is kind of the life preserver thrown to us from the boat.”

· “It opened my eyes to the kind of marriage I truly desire and realize it is possible through the power of the Holy Spirit. I just loved how the whole conference was centered on God and biblical principles! I pray that God will strengthen our marriage as we apply these principles.”

Growth Ideas for You or Friends