Mike and I have been married since 1988, and we have experienced the protection and blessing of God all along the way. And, wow, we have needed it!

I can look back all along the way and see how our immaturity and inexperience, mistakes and sins, lack of training and faulty thoughts hindered and hurt our marriage.

When our sons were born, we both knew we wanted to be very intentional about preparing them specifically for marriage.

Mike and I married in 1988, about 14 months after we first met in his small hometown, Crossett, Arkansas. I had moved to Crossett for my first post-college job to serve as the Director of Public Relations and Personnel at the hospital in Crossett, Ashley Memorial Hospital, after graduating from Harding University. Mike had recently graduated from Louisiana Tech in Ruston and returned home as his job hunt continued.

We both graduated from high school in 1982, both grew up in Christian families living in modest homes on 3 acres. Those three similarities are interesting, but they end there. I grew up as the middle child of 7; Mike grew up an only child. I lived in Kennedale, Texas, a small town with a high school graduating class of only 72 back then, but we could be in downtown Fort Worth in 20 minutes, at Six Flags over Texas in 30 and downtown Dallas in 35. Mike's hometown actually had a higher population than Kennedale, but the nearest shopping mall was an hour south in Monroe, Louisiana, the next nearest two hours north in Little Rock.