Married and in Ministry: Are You Having Serious Fun?
Ted Lowe
February 23, 2017

No one enters a marriage hoping for failure. Most couples start out with a huge amount of optimism, excited about the future that lies ahead. But your “best us”—attaining the best version of your marriage—doesn’t just happen. Even if (or maybe that’s, “especially if”) you’re in ministry. Over the next few weeks, we’ll take a […]

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No one enters a marriage hoping for failure. Most couples start out with a huge amount of optimism, excited about the future that lies ahead. But your “best us”—attaining the best version of your marriage—doesn’t just happen. Even if (or maybe that’s, “especially if”) you’re in ministry.

Over the next few weeks, we’ll take a look at four practical action steps you can take to stay connected to each other and committed to becoming your best us.

Here’s the first one …

ACTION STEP 1: HAVE SERIOUS FUN

Is fun essential or just extra? We all like fun. But it’s easy to think that other things are more important than having fun as a couple. Here are some barriers to fun all couples face at one time or another.

Barrier #1: Busyness

We can get so busy that we don’t even think about fun. There are just so many things we have to do. And those have-to’s seems bigger than fun.

Barrier #2: Seriousness

People depend on us. We have important things to do. Serious focus on what is seriously important seems bigger than fun.

Barrier #3: Children

Parents love their kids. But let’s be honest: kids are marital suckerfish. Making sure kids have what they “need” becomes more important than fun.

Barrier #4: Exhaustion

With everything else going on in our world, it is easy to feel like we don’t have the energy or words to have fun. Exhaustion seems bigger than fun.

Barrier #5: Uncertainty

When it comes to fun, couples may wonder: What if we find we have nothing to say each other, realize we have nothing in common, or that we have serious issues? Sometimes all the what if’s keep married couples from serious fun.

Fun doesn’t require perfection; fun requires participation. You only need to find the fun that works best for your us. If you have to choose between material things and experiences as a couple, we encourage you to pick experiences. Experiences bring us together.

SO HOW DO WE HAVE SERIOUS FUN?

To get started, determine what you both like to do for fun. Ride bikes together? Eat out%3

Leadership,  
Ted Lowe WRITER
Ted is a speaker, blogger, and the director of MarriedPeople, the marriage division at The reThink Group. After serving as the director of MarriedLife at North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, Georgia, Ted joined the Orange team to create MarriedPeople. Ted is a graduate of Fuller Theological Seminary, in Pasadena, California. He lives in Cumming, Georgia, with his four favorite people: his wife, Nancie, and their three children. Ted is co-author of "Married People: How Your Church Can Build Marriages that Last." For more information about Ted and MarriedPeople, visit MarriedPeople.org or join him on Facebook at Facebook.com/ marriedpeople or Twitter @tedlowe.