This is no joke. Real people. Real struggles. Real reality.

Brett returned home from work one night, took a bite from the meal his wife, Tina, had prepared, and declared, “This tastes like dog food!”

“Fine,” Tina snapped back. “You don’t have to eat it!”

The next night Brett took a couple bites from dinner and practically choked. “What on earth is this?” he said.

“Last night you said my meal tasted like dog food,” Tina replied. “So tonight I decided not to waste my time making anything special for you. I just fed you dog food!”

Many would have said this was a marriage without hope. Brett and Tina were typical of many couples today—struggling through life with no game plan for how they could be successful in their marriage.

They decided to attend a Weekend to Remember marriage getaway because someone gave them a free registration. What did they have to lose?

Midway through the weekend, Brett recommitted his life to Jesus Christ. For Tina it was a different experience. She disagreed with many of the messages she heard.

On the final morning, she stormed out and demanded that they leave. Brett drove Tina home and then returned to the conference by himself.

Over the next few months, Brett began to demonstrate to Tina that he was a changed man. He applied some of the lessons he learned at the conference and gradually began to win Tina over through real love. Tina’s heart softened, and eventually she invited Jesus Christ to be her Savior and the Lord of her life.

A year after they first attended the marriage conference, they came back, walking hand in hand. They still struggled, but now they possessed a relationship with the God who designed marriage in the first place.

Brett has learned to appreciate Tina. And her cooking.

Discuss

If God could change a marriage like this, what could He change in your marriage?

Pray

Ask that God will give you the power to truly live in harmony with each other, in the spirit of 1 Peter 3:8-9.