Fear of Learning

Sarah and I went to the marriage retreat up to Blueberry Mountain on Friday night and Saturday. It was a great time! We were able to tent out which was a lot of fun, and the sessions and times together were very helpful. I would go so far as to say that it was the best marriage event I have ever been to. I think there are a couple reasons for that. One: the couple that led the retreat divorced after 2 years of marriage. Stayed divorced for 11 years and lost track of each other. Both got right with God and found each other and remarried. Talk about a cool story! As they taught us, they taught us as people who have discovered things in their own life and learned from their failures. It wasn't a lot of great philosophy, it was a whole lot of real life presented in a real way. Very accessible. Second reason: Me. I'm continuing to grow and mature and one big part of that is getting past fear and pride. I always hated going to anything like this because I was sure it was going to show me all these things that I was doing wrong and I didn't want to feel like that. What guy (or anyone) wants to feel like a failure? Well that is just pure pride on my part. I didn't like feeling like I had things to learn so I didn't expose myself to things I needed to learn. As I am growing in my marriage and walk with Sarah, I am coming to understand the joy of being humble and teachable ESPECIALLY in this area. I have found as a result that Sarah is much less interested in my perfection than in my openness to growing towards her. Who knew? :) As we deal with the issues and imperfections in our marriage and talk honestly about them, we can feel the greater health, the greater joy, and the greater closeness. I have to tell you, it's AWESOME! Husbands, having a lot to learn is not a stain on your honor. Being a afraid of learning will in the long run hurt a lot more than the learning itself.