relationship from previous relationships. I was craving love, and my husband was seeking respect. We thought it was impossible to agree on anything.
After just a couple of sessions, my husband and I loved going to our meetings because we were excited to understand each others needs and to communicate without arguing. We left each session knowing how to love the other more deeply and with the right kind of commitment. We dug into our own personal hurts and learned about each others needs. We realized our own personal value in our marriage and as parents. We learned to focus on the others positive attributes and tell them what we appreciated. When we got together, we believed the other person had great and wonderful attributes and that's why we got married, but we still focused on controlling little things about each other. Without realizing it, we were trying to make our mate more like ourselves when God made us to be unique.
Liz and Jerry kept us focused on the task of improving our marriage by redirection. Their valuable faith-based tools and methods showed us that to have a successful marriage you have to give up control. It was completely successful. Even now, almost one year after our sessions came to an end, our communications skills are continuing to mature. Only God knew he was preparing our marriage to handle my leukemia, and we were entirely prepared. My husband has handled the stress of being a full-time provider, beautifully. Through the sessions we learned how to choose to trust God fully with our lives and resist fear. We learned that it is not important to be right in a discussion but humble, loving, and caring of the others needs. If we still can't work it out, we have learned to take it to God. We each ask God to show us our own personal error. This always works for us. Within an hour, we are both apologizing for our part and it is beautiful and very loving way to move forward. We were very sad to bring the sessions to an end, but we no longer needed them. We were able to take what we had learned and continue growing in God and in our marriage.
The experience was incredible, and we had become the loving life partners in our marriage that God intended us to be. What a huge blessing God has given to us, our children and their future.
Thank you Liz and Jerry for your mentorship and love in Christ!
John & Suzette
There are several things that stood out in my experience. It was my first time ever meeting with a husband and wife for counseling. Being a female, I enjoyed hearing a male opinion and watching his wife respond in a healthy way! Unfortunately, I had never experienced that in my life. This helped me to see a married couple interact and work together.
Their love for God, people and healthy living inspired me. And when I rambled in a session for a half hour on a simple question of how I feel . . . they listened patiently till I figured it out! The more they listened and encouraged me to get in touch with my feelings, the more God drew closer to me and healed my wounds. What a priceless gift! I am now reaping the benefits of my hard work and have a beautiful relationship with the Lord. And also with a couple who cheer me on! Thank you Liz and Jerry!
Michelle