Jesus Take the Wheel

ByMary Lenaburg


30 years ago I was a new bride and I thought I knew everything there was to know about being a wife. I knew how I wanted to keep my home and what the future would be. I had it all figured out.


Then life happened. Our humanity started showing and the house began to fall. Addictions, career changes, financial difficulties, a special needs child, strain and stress, challenge after challenge.


At the half-way point in our marriage, the house was barely standing, battered, broken and needing a complete renovation. It was a miracle and we both knew it.


That’s when we asked God in. We were both in so much pain that we figured it would be easier to change, grow, ask for forgiveness, give forgiveness and allow God to take the lead than to remain in this season of suffering. We knocked down those walls that surrounded our hearts and did the hard work to rebuild trust and faith in one another and who we knew our family could be.


It is amazing what happens when you humble yourself and put another’s needs, dreams and desires ahead of your own. When you allow Jesus to literally take the wheel, even though you have no idea how that road trip is going to turn out.

30 years later and we are each other’s greatest cheerleader. 30 years later that house we tore down to the bones and rebuilt on solid ground, does not shake or rattle when the wind blows, because we know whose we are and how faithful Our God is. My dreams are his. His dreams are mine.


This morning we spoke to couples who are preparing for marriage. It was such a gift to share our journey with them. We talked about what not to do. It’s really simple. Just don’t quit. Don’t quit on each other and don’t quit on God. He brought you together and He will see you through ALL of it.


If you are in a hard season of marriage, don’t quit. Just do your best and allow God to restore, renew and rebuild it.


Jerry Don Lenaburg, you are and will always be, my very best “yes”. Thank you for not quitting on me or our family and especially not on God. I love you now and always.