IGNITE

ecclesiastes 9:9 "enjoy life with your wife (spouse) whom you love."

nate and i had the chance to attend "IGNITE 2011" this past weekend, which is a marriage conference that church of the highlands hosted. let me just say, it was incredible! we enjoyed a very much needed, refreshing time to focus on each other.

there were several different sessions led by 2 great men of god, jimmy evans and joe mcgee. they were both incredible. for more information on these guys, you can visit their websites www.marriagetoday.com and www.joemcgeeministries.com

we learned a lot, laughed a lot, and took a lot of notes! :) i am a big note-taker... the only problem is i couldn't write fast enough! and sometimes i was laughing too hard to take down all the notes! but i got a lot of good stuff and will def review to remember some of the main points.

pastor jimmy evans from texas was the first speaker. he was awesome, and so full of wisdom. he started by teaching from ephesians 5 and talked about how that lays out god's perfect plan for marriage. he discussed some of the main needs of a man (honor, sex, friendship, and support at home) and the needs of women (security, soft non-sexual affection, open and honest communication, and leadership in these 4 areas- children, romance, spiritual matters, and finances.)

next he led a session on fear which i could easily relate to. he said that fear focuses on the problem, and faith focuses on god. how true is that? he gave us different ways to disarm destructive fears, and also outlined 4 curses of fear. 1. it makes us selfish. 2. it makes us sinful. 3. it makes us say negative things. 4. it makes us stupid. he talked about a fear dance, a cycle that we get into, and then we bring our spouse into it (hurt, want, fear, react.)  fear has always been a big issue for me, and for that reason, i LOVE 2 timothy 1:7 that says "for god has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind!"

the last session he taught was on sex. he gave 7 reasons for sex: 1. reproduction 2. comfort 3. sensual enjoyment and pleasure 4. self esteem and confidence 5. bonding 6. intimate knowledge 7. protection from outside temptation. he talked about sex being sacred, and how marriage is a covenant and not a contract. another great point he made was that sex is the only unique feature in marriage... everything else you do with other people. hebrews 13:4 says "marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for god will judge the adulterer and all the sexual immoral." he pointed out that the beginning of adultry is when you turn your heart away. that is powerful stuff!

 

joe mcgee was the other speaker. ohmygoodness. he was phenominal! i mean, i loved him! i had heard he was great, but wow. now he talked super fast and i know i missed a lot of things he said. i tried to write fast but it was hard! he started by giving 3 job descriptions for a man (lover, leader, and provider) and 3 for a woman (helpmate, manage the home, and lover.) he quoted several scriptures that i tried to scribble down. matthew 5:9, proverbs 29:18, jeremiah 33:3, matthew 12:24&35, james 1:19, matthew 16:18, proverbs 24:3-4, proverbs 14:1, psalm 127:1, jeremiah 29:4-7, proverbs 24:27 and luke 14:28 are just a few! i love how he said you gotta whip the devil with the word of god! :)

he spoke a lot on communication. he was quick to point out to think before you speak. he said "just because a thought comes to your head doesn't mean it needs to come out your mouth." i LOVE that. he listed several scriptures in proverbs that have to do with your words. he even said if you were to highlight every time in proverbs that it talked about the mouth, it would change the way you talked. and in james it talks about how life and death are in the power of the tongue. he said "all wars, affairs, and divorces start with words." very true!

obviously marriage is HARD WORK. and it takes a lot of work. but as joe pointed out, you have to work at great things. marriage can be great, but it will be great work as well. i love this thought from him "you don't find a great life, marriage, or family- you build one." WOW. he has a book on family finances, and hit a few points there. 1. you will either be blessed, or broke, by your attitude. 2. order proceeds increase. if you aren't stewarding your money, god won't give you anymore. 3. there are different channels of income. (guess he started talking fast b/c that's all i have on #3. ha!) the last thing he gave us were some things to help you remember to be a good lover. 1. have the right motive (meet your spouse's need.) 2. start yesterday. 3. your body won't be perfect 4. eliminate routines 5. practice tenderness 6. never criticize 7. proper personal heigene 8. it's ok to laugh 9. we've got a lifetime to figure it out! :)

we saw several friends at the ignite conference. it was great catching up with them during breaks. but more than anything, it was so nice to have some time alone with nate. alone meaning with thousands of other couples, but still. alone in the fact that we didn't have the boys hanging all over us. we were able to worship side by side (which rarely happens since nate is the worship leader at our church) and we both loved the COTH worship band. they were awesome. like i said, although there were so many people there, it was amazing how intimate the conference was. i am so glad that god allowed us to experience this conference. i know that already, our marriage has benefited greatly from it. i can't wait to see how god continues to ignite our love for him and for each other. we will def plan on attending the conference next year, and if you get the chance, i'd highly reccomend you and your spouse go as well. (and a big shout out to meme and grandaddy, bitsy, and shannon for pitching in and taking care of the boys. we couldn't have gone to ignite without you!)

IT.WAS.AWESOME.

love love love this sweet pic of me and nate! :)