The Aughties

2000-2009
It's hard to believe that this decade started with Erin and I in high school, and ends with us trying to sell a house and moving to the Indianapolis area.  There is a TON that happens in ten years of one's life, but this decade has seen many milestones for the Schmitts:

• Getting married and figuring out how to live together
• Combined 5 Degrees in Education (Erin: high school, Bachelor's, and Master's; Fred:  high school and Bachelor's)
• Starting a full-time Ministry position at a church
• Starting a teaching career
• Buying and Possessing a House
• Seeing Ohio State win the National Championship in person (on Fred's list, but not Erin's)

As we look forward to 2010, we know that God has many more things he'd like to show us...and we sit here at the close of a decade together saying, "We're ready for it!"  

Fight for the Heart

So, I'm (Fred) reading this book about family ministry strategy and I come across this concept that fits exactly where I feel Erin and I are in our marriage.  The concept is: "Fight for the heart."  It's a rally cry for families, mainly parents to fight to build trustworthy relationships with their children.  While many parents strive to merely enforce the rules, or explain the rules, the rules don't mean much unless they are built off of a trust relationship.

Erin and I have had a great year in our marriage, but now more than ever we are going to be pushed to fight for the heart of our relationship.  It has been described as a huge mistake that we are making over the next 6 months as we'll be living apart, but we know that our stubborn tenacity will help up fight for the most important thing: Us.

God has shown us that He has picked us for each other, those who know us closely know how much we balance each other out.  We're past the point of trying to change one another and we're on to the point complimenting one another.  We seek to be an example of what a team looks like and we're on a mission to love others and love God!