Marital Issues: Restoring Hope
             When "marriage" is mentioned the image that comes to mind is that of a beautiful bride and a handsome groom, surrounded by their loved ones, witnesses to their blessed union. Very rarely does an image of that same couple arguing and one spouse storming out of the house come to mind. The reality is that no marriage is perfect all the time.
             An increasing number of pastors are divorcing as fast as their parishioners and that clergymen are now the second highest divorced and remarried professional group in North America. The purpose of this paper is to address the fact that there are in fact marital problems. And these marital problems do not have to end in divorce. There is indeed hope for troubled marriages. And it is for this hope that many a marriage has been rescued from divorce. The two common responses to hopelessness are despair and self-indulgence. The proper response is to turn to God and trust in his promise of a perfect and just future.
             According to the CDC (Center for Disease Control) the marriage rate in 2001 was 2,400 per 1000 and the divorce rate was at 1,200 per 1000. Many in society would infer from the statistics that half of the marriages end in divorce. What the statistics are in fact inferring is that the ratio of marriages to divorces is two to one. The fact is that more and more couples are noticing the growing rift in their marriages and many have felt like there is no hope for their marriage. The problems confronting these couples are perplexing, and there is no simple solution to "fix" the marriage.
             There are a growing number of people who are in a troubled marriage and are looking for help. "Partners recognize that they're both emotionally dependent upon the other for love, comfort, support, and protection. Recent research by relationship guru John Gottman Ph. D. the author of The Seven Principles for M...