Share

Life is meant to be shared. Oftentimes we find ourselves craving privacy after spending too much time in the DMV. (For my Florida peeps: that's the DC, Maryland and Virginia area. Aka the most likely territory for Alfred to get recognized in.) For us, privacy means normalcy. We experience a mixture of emotions, when you feel normal and act normal but get treated like you aren't normal. 

People in the DMV treat us abnormally.  If we come into your restaurant we don't want a free meal because he plays football, we just want a peaceful meal without being interrupted by other customers or the restaurant employees. Then there are the people who recognize Alfreds car. Yes, his 1991 car that's older than me gets recognized due to a free makeover done by Mazda. That makeover got way more publicity than we would've ever expected. So occasionally, he has had to swerve or slam on breaks to avoid an overly ecstatic fan waving and swerving in our direction. If we are really lucky, we will be stopped at a light in DC and have people on the streets pointing and taking pictures of our car. (That's just plain creepy!) Also there was the man taking our ID's at the airport. He clearly didn't realize Alfred and I were together and rudely told him to step back behind the line until they took care of me. But, then he suddenly became SOOO enthusiastic and sweet when he saw an ID saying "Alfred Morris" and sent us off with a sweet and loving "Go Redskins." Its endless in the DMV, that's why I wouldn't raise my children there. (That's a post waiting to happen.) Needless to say, it can be hard to find genuine people to share our life with. 

The thing is that, life is meant to be shared. Our God is a God who is relational and He has designed us to be that way as well. That is one reason why our annual "couples retreat" has been a huge blessing to us. We just finished our 3rd retreat today and it makes me so proud that the same 3 couples, including us, have managed to make our retreat such a priority in our busy lives.

Three retreats ago, we decided that we should all get together. We went into year one with zero anticipation, that what was then just a simple get together, would actually become an annually thought out couples retreat. 

Year one we all knew the struggle of pursuing a Godly relationship with our significant other. Temptations are real and can be overwhelming at times. For us, finding other couples willing to wait until marriage to have sex was far and few between. That alone bonded us. We could relate to one another and find comfort in the fact that we no longer were facing these hardships alone. The power of prayer is amazing and for the past 2 years, from the first retreat to the third we have all covered each other in prayer. 

By year two Alfred and I were married. One couple down and two to go! The second year we incorporated a quiz that helped us evaluate a few things. First it was full of questions about why we fell in love, and secondly it questioned us about if we were praying enough for our significant other and what exactly we were praying for. Retreat number two was an awesome turning point because we were coming together for the purpose of encouragement, spiritual growth and of course tons of fun and laughter still! We genuinely left the second retreat hearts full of encouragement, love, spiritual growth and hope for our futures. 

Retreat number three, we are all now married, and we have a 7th wheel now attending: Baby Morris!!! We all accomplished our goal of waiting until marriage with the loves of our lives! God is great. We now fully expect to find ourselves challenged by whatever study we do prior to showing up! This year we read the book "you and me forever" by Francis and Lisa Chan. I seriously suggest this book to all single, dating and married people. We were able to share our favorite parts of this book and why these apply to us in our marriages. (Because we all have marriages now!!! Sorry, still a little overjoyed and excited about that!) It was such good fellowship hearing couples share their struggles and finding comfort because we completely relate to them! 

God was so great to bring these people in our lives at just the right time and I know more than anything He wants us to share life with them. Doing life with genuine people who want nothing but God's best for you is breathtaking and refreshing. I know it's hard to find people who can be your encouragement, but pray for these types of people to enter your life. Everyone needs more people who will lift you up and positively encourage you! 

—Proverbs 17:17 A friend loves at all times and a brother is born for adversity