Our Exhilarating And Horrifying First Year Of Marriage

Our first year of marriage and ministry were...exhilarating and horrifying, all wrapped up into one.

On the exhilarating side, we spent our first five months of married life ministering together in a foreign country where neither of us spoke the language.  We watched God strategically place English-speaking unbelievers in our path who got saved after “random” encounters with us.  We also saw Jesus move in miraculous ways that we had not witnessed in the States.

One of these miraculous encounters involved Jesus “parting the Red Sea” to prohibit us from being arrested by the Chinese government.  We were nervously waiting in line at Customs before entering China, having multiple Bibles stashed away in our bags.  Bringing large quantities of Bibles into the country was illegal and resulted in your immediate arrest if caught.  As we watched armed guards search through every person’s bags who went before us, I panicked.  What would I do if I were arrested and separated from Joe?  What would happen to me? 

We were finally at the front of the line awaiting our turn to be called forward, and my heart was thumping inside my chest.  Suddenly, out of nowhere, an armed guard came from inside the building and motioned to us to come to his line, which had been closed.  Without a word, he waved us through without checking a single one of our bags!  It was these types of encounters that strengthened our faith and marriage bond and showed us the importance of being faithful to God and leave the results up to Him.

On the horrifying side, we were still two newlyweds trying to adjust to married life, live together in a foreign country, and do full-time ministry simultaneously.  Satan took advantage of that opportunity and launched an all-out attack on our relationship.  There were times I did not think our marriage would survive because we argued weekly and ruthlessly.  Our attempts at successful communication failed miserably when our emotions got the best of us, which left us depleted and relationally challenged.

Looking back 32 years later, we know Jesus sovereignly planted us 7,200 miles away from friends and family to force us to work it out together with Him.  Otherwise, we may not have made it through.  It took a few years of dedication, hard work, and determination.  But we overcame many of our initial challenges with God’s grace and help, and our relationship soared to new heights.

What about you and your marriage?  Do you need to “isolate yourselves” from outside influences and get before Jesus for His help to overcome?