Fireproof

Have you seen this movie? If you haven't, you should.

When I first started watching "Fireproof", I tried really hard to see past the "hard to buy" acting. But as I kept watching this movie and became entwined in the story, the original criticism I had about the acting just sort of faded away.

Fireproof is a powerful story. In an age where marriages don't last forever. In an age where divorce is an easy out, Fireproof is a story about putting everything you have into trying to make your marriage work. Trying to turn your relationship around for the better. Because during a fire, during the most trying times, "you never leave your partner behind".

Now I'm not against divorce. Sometimes you just can't fix something no matter how hard you try. Especially if only one person is committed to trying to fix something. I myself, have contemplated divorce. Things were touch and go there for a while but my husband has been trying to change, to be a better man. That and my faith in God is what has held my marriage together.

Beyond the deep Christian, God devotion aspect to the story, there is something that I think no matter if you are Christian or not is something that before we call it quits we should all take a look at. And that is "The Love Dare". The Love Dare is something that I think should be handed out to every married soldier who redeploys to the states (and their spouses). It's a 40 day challenge. A challenge that will change the way you treat your spouse. A challenge that if done with a committed heart, will change your relationship for the better.

There was one thing in The Love Dare that really spoke to me. I can't remember what day it was, 21 or something like that. But it talked about how when a man is trying to woo his wife, will study her and learn everything about her. But after they marry, and he has won his wife, he stops studying her. He stops learning about her but 7 years from the day that he marries her, she will most likely be a completely different person from the day they were married. But he has stopped studying her and because shes different and hes different, they grow apart. That concept just spoke to me. Jeff and I had that same conversation a couple months ago. He felt like he didn't know me anymore. He didn't know what I was interested in. He had no clue what to buy me for Christmas because he didn't know what I liked, what size I was, etc etc. He stopped studying me, where as I never stopped studying him.

Pardon my long-windedness but this movie just spoke to my heart. The marriage that they depicted was just so close to my own that it was scary. Jeff was a soldier and not a firefighter but pretty much the same concept. He wouldn't leave a fellow soldier behind, but when things were at their worst, he was willing to leave me behind. Thank God that is changing now. We didn't do The Love Dare but it is something I would love to challenge myself to do. If I get a hold of the book and start The Love Dare, I will update you on my progress.