This week, I’m with my husband at a marriage intensive in Branson, MO. It’s not an enrichment for people who just want to make their marriage better. It’s for people who have hit the wall.

There are times when you’re stuck and it’s easy to pretend you’re still moving. Other times, it’s so obvious that you are stuck that pretending otherwise would be folly.

We had reached the latter situation.

Conversely, we are still in love and only want this to work.

When this goes live, I’m not sure exactly where things will stand. Hopefully, towards the end of a week of intense counseling support, time alone for reflection, and time with each other, we will be feeling hopeful and even refreshed. Maybe it will just be hard.

I know this isn’t where I thought I’d be even six months ago, and not where I wanted to be, either.

Sometimes willpower isn’t enough to generate change. Sometimes you need help.

Why am I telling you this?

It would feel weird to just put up a normal post this week as if everything were as it should be, although I don’t know if I will want to say more about our experience when we get back.

I want to be up front. We can’t be alone. But I almost never hear from friends or acquaintances that they are struggling in their marriage. What does that even look like? Well, it can look like us.

So if you have a prayer habit, lift us up.