Counseling Road Trip

This weekend (Friday-Monday), George and I traveled to meet with people for pre-marital counseling.

Our first stop was in Kakamega (an hour and a half from Kisumu) to the home of Charles and Emily. Charles and Emily were teachers at George's high school who really helped him when he was in need. They have become like parents to him and have been his spiritual mentors. I met them in January and really respect them. They offered us wonderful advice and asked a lot of tough questions. Their main point was marriage is an unbreakable covenant before the Lord.

They focused a lot on culture. There are many things in our cultures that make staying married until death due us part very difficult. They wanted to make sure we knew about those ahead of time and had a plan to overcome those strongholds. They also stressed the importance of forgiveness. Not just for each other, but for anyone else we are withholding that from. Not forgiving others creates bitterness in our heart that can affect our relationship.

We were also told it is essential to maintain our own relationships with God. When that is out of wack, our marriage will suffer. When we strive to please the Lord, we will strive to do what is right and put the other person's needs before our own. It is also important to learn to do everything together - pray, read the Bible, eat, budget, dream, make priorities, decision making, etc. Marriage is the highest level of teamwork.

Charles and Emily said so many wise things. Our counseling went until 2:00am and I have six pages of notes with priceless advice. We were so blessed to spend time with them and look forward to them participating in our wedding.

On Sunday morning we embarked on the six hour drive to meet with a friend of ours who will be performing the wedding ceremony. Our time with him was just as special. He too stressed that marriage is a permanent contract. Something George and I are committed to seeing through. We had a nice time chatting with him. Although he knows us both, he didn't know the whole story of our relationship. We were able to tell him that and share with him our plans for the future. Doing his part as a pastor, he wanted to make sure both families are on board. We assured him they were... George even asked my parents for permission and they gave us their blessing.

Monday morning, we caught the first of five matatus and headed back to Kisumu. George and I are so blessed to have Godly people in our lives to guide us and counsel us before and after our union.