I Dare You!

February 20, 2013

On Saturday, July 21, 2007 at 1:30 p.m., my life changed forever. That was my wedding day. As many of you are aware, the days and months after this monumental life change can be hectic. It takes time for normal or the new normal to creep in and take back its rule.

For me, this happened quicker than expected. Our first year of marriage was as hard as we heard it could be. This was probably due to the fact that the habits and lifestyle choices I had made when single were not entirely broken. When they came back, they hit hard due to their subsequent caging.

Because of this, we had problems that could be considered typical of newlyweds. Fast forward to 2009 and a new book that was all the rage, The Love Dare by Stephen Kendrick. This book was birthed to help married couples learn the meaning of unconditional love. As stated in the book, "Unconditional love is eagerly promised, but rarely practiced in real life."

We could relate with that, but at the time of its release, we really didn’t have the time to devote to reading, let alone putting into practice whatever it was asking of us. Now, it has been almost four years since it was released, and we have been hooked by it. We have begun to read it as part of a study we are doing. The main thrust of the book is to follow the 40 love dares and see how it affects your marriage.

The first dare is to learn patience. This is not a strong point for me, but I know that I need this. If you feel your marriage could be better, then check this book out. I dare you to!

Branden P.
Liberty Branch