Some friends of ours recently began going to a counselor (oh no, the C word) for their marriage's sake. The husband shared a story about how he was recently talking to the wife of a youth pastor while they both were visiting a mutual friend at the hospital. As he listened to her talk about how her marriage's main focus was her children and that they put their marriage on the back burner for the kids, he was burdened by it. Rather than just tell her that she really needed to focus on her husband and her marriage, chide her, or quote scripture at her, he began his encouragement by saying something like, "my wife and I recently began counseling to save our marriage." Well, to make a long story short, his honesty and openness gave her the ability to trust him and really listen to what he had to say. It is rare in today's culture for people to share from their hearts, particularly to be vulnerable in so doing. We can all share our opinions about what other people do or say, but to share our weaknesses and feelings? It seems we'd rather go to the dentist. And because he and his wife were so willing to share their struggles with us, we were more open with them and it made for a wonderful evening of mutual encouragment and love. May we trust God to be our strength when we are weak and not believe the lie that we have to show others how "perfect" we are.