The night before our wedding, we gathered with family and close friends for our rehearsal dinner. It was intimate and sweet – and we loved being surrounded by those who meant the most to us. As the evening went on, a few speeches were given and sadly I remember none of them except Dodaddy’s. He was my paternal grandfather and had been married for something like 70ish years at the time. He slowly stood up and declared in a very serious tone, “Dorothy and I have never considered divorce…” there was a looong pause before he continued with, “murder, on the other hand!” The room erupted with laughter and that moment has been etched in my memory forever.

Not only was it funny and perfectly delivered, but it became super relatable to us as the years melted away. Almost 18 years later, I can honestly say that Dustin and I have never considered divorce, but that certainly doesn’t mean we haven’t wanted to murder each other from time to time. 

Fun fact, both of our parents and all four sets of our grandparents had/have a lasting marriage. No divorce. What a rarity, right?! In fact, when our oldest was about 2 years old, we all met up in Waco, Texas to capture some priceless moments. Bradyn with all four sets of his great-grands, both sets of grands, and us.

Truly, a treasure. But back to the D word. Did you know that according to stats released by the CDC,

67% of first marriages,

over a 40 year period,

will end in divorce.

I hope someone got that stat wrong because its mind-blowing and incredibly sad. 

Has the D word become part of your world? Perhaps you are reading this and have already walked through divorce. Or perhaps you have filed for one. Or threatened one. Or maybe the title of this blog was intriguing because you have a great marriage, and you never want to lose what you currently have. 

Regardless of where you stand, I hope you know upfront that *nothing* is too big for God to redeem, restore, heal, or protect…We just have to invite Him in, which brings me to the most important part of this blog post: 

We often receive messages from desperate spouses who want a “fix” for their marriage woes. They are all ears for suggestions, coaching, and quite frankly, are hopeful we will be able to toss them a magic pill. And you know what?! We have one! In fact, this magic pill is more than 99% effective at divorce-proofing your marriage! And the best part? You don’t need insurance to get this pill because it’s free. Ready for me to write you a prescription?

According to a Gallup poll done by the National Association of Marriage Enhancement, couples who regularly pray together have a divorce rate of 1 out of 1,152!

That means that if you are regularly praying together *with* your spouse, you have less than a 1% chance of getting a divorce. How’s THAT for a magic pill?!? Best prescription of your life!

So here you are, at this point in my jumble of words and grammatical errors, where you are like, “yeah, that wasn’t *the* pill I was looking for.” Is it because you were looking for a pill you could spoon-feed your spouse to fix them? Just asking because I’ve been there done that. I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that’s not the case. Maybe you’re hesitant about taking this pill because you don’t know Jesus, or you’ve drifted away from Him. Perhaps your spouse isn’t a believer. Or you aren’t sure what to pray. Or maybe you would feel awkward asking your spouse to join you…

Friend, there is POWER IN PRAYER. PERIOD. Whether you’re praying on your own or with your spouse, there is power in that! You don’t have to jump into praying with your spouse right away. Start by simply praying to the Lord on your own. It can even be a silent prayer you have in your mind. Make it a daily habit. When you get comfortable, let your spouse know you’ve been praying for your marriage. And with time, invite your spouse to join you. Our heavenly Father is patient, and He is the ultimate example of love. He will bless your faithfulness of seeking Him through prayer. And that my friends, is the best drug deal your marriage will ever have!